VertiCut
by Slave2Karma
Summary: It's been two hundred years since Edward left his mansion. He may not have changed, but Suburbia has: into a dark futuristic city that is twisted, damning and violent. And yet, this New Suburbia may be the closest thing to belonging Edward will ever know.
1. Runaround

Authors Note- Hi everybody. I've had this idea for a while, but I got bored today and just wrote the first chapter on a whim. Normally, I do a lot of planning, so I hope I can go somewhere with this. Well, at the end of the movie, Edward stayed the same age. So would he stay the same age forever? Would the world he looked down upon grow and change as the years progressed? Would he ever find himself in a future world where maybe, he could belong? Rated T for violence and swearing.

Disclaimer: Alas, Suburbia and Edward are not mine, but everything else is.

**VertiCut: Chapter I**

_T__he Streets of New Suburbia, Year 2192_

I push off the ground and kick the switch on my street skimmer. As my board lifts up into the air, the guys in the alley turn and see me.

"There she is!" one of them yells.

I peel down the street before I hear what the others say. They've been after me all day. I don't know if they wanna mug me, kill me, or rape me, but I'm smart enough to run first, ask questions later.

"Come back here you little bitch!!!" one yells.

I ignore it, and lean forward.

"Let the retard run. There ain't a place in the city we can't find her."

I spin around and face them.

"You know, I'm only ten years old, and you've been at it since nine in the morning. There must be someone easier to harass. Maybe a senior citizen?" I suggested.

"I wouldn't be smiling if I were you," one of the four says as they close in on me.

"If you were _me_, then I'd be _you_. And if I were _you_, I would stop chasing little kids and get a girlfriend." I said.

He reaches out to grab me. I stomp on the Verti Boost and clear their heads. My board skims across the pavement as the air packs spurt out air. I slip my foot out of the harness, and push off the ground. Back in the air.

"Eat my dust, fuckers!" I yell back, flipping them off.

I push forward as fast as I can, looking for a place I can take refugee. The tall skyscrapers, the run down old buildings...I take a left.

I've lived in New Suburbia my whole life. I know every street, every groove. Even though it's dark, I knew before I turned I was heading down a dead end road. But I have a plan.

As I approach the chain link fence at the base of the condemned mountain, I step down on the Verti Boost. I go up for almost six feet. I grab onto the fence and swing myself over. After pushing off the ground, I head steadily up the road to the haunted mansion.

The road wraps around the mountain, so I don't see the four guys hop the fence, but I hear their yells getting closer and closer. I push forward. I see a little gate, covered with dead vines. A tall white, dead tree trunk propped across the side of it. I use it as a ramp, and go soaring over the fence. I close my eyes as I fall. I feel my board skim some shrubbery or something, and I go flying forward.

I opened my eyes as my board and I crashed into a giant dark hand.

"_Shit_!!!!" I yelled as I was pushed backward.

I hit the ground hard. My Street Skimmer hissed from inside the giant hand. _What the...?_ I went up to it and touched it. It was soft. I pulled it. Leaves.

I hear the boys yelling. I reach into the giant hand shaped bush and pull out my skimmer. I flick it off and run inside the mansion.

Inside, it's dark and cold. There is no place to hide—just a giant, empty room. I lift up my Street Skimmer and turn on its headlight. There's a staircase, and a few doorways. I head over to them.

It was then that I heard it. A snip sound. From up the stairs. I pointed my light at it. A shadow shifted. I moved to turn around, and walked right into one of the boys that was after me.

"You dirty little cretin." He hissed.

"It's Urchin, ass-wipe." I hissed back.

"She looks like an Urchin, doesn't she?" said one with an accent. He grabbed a handful of my dread locks.

I turned and kneed him in the crotch. He sank down. The other two boys grabbed my wrists.

"A wild thing, aren't you?" The accent boy said, pulling himself up. He pulled a gleaming knife out of his pocket.

"They wanted her alive, Kage." The one behind me said.

"They didn't say what condition she _need_ be," Kage said, coming closer.

I pulled away from one of the boys and clawed Kage's face. He flinched, but smiled. He hooked the knife on the outer corner of my eye, and yanked downward. I screamed as the three boys pulled me to my knees. The one behind me covered my mouth.

"Besides," Kage said, a look of pure happiness on his face. "There are worse things we can do then kill you."

I heard a loud thump. Like someone walking heavily and slowly. The snip sound. I heard that again too.

"What the hell?" one of the boys behind me demanded.

All of us squinted into the darkness. A thin figure approached us, very slowly.

"...What is..." the figure whispered in a soft voice.

One of the boys picked up my Street Skimmer, and flashed the light at the figures face. A pale white face covered in cuts. A boy's face.

"Another street urchin. Back off buddy. This isn't something you want to intrude upon." Kage said, turning away.

"...What is... going on?" the boy asked.

"Fuck off, emo. This isn't your concern." Another one said.

I bit down hard on the hand around my mouth.

"_HELP ME_!!!" I yelled.

The boy looked down at me. I must have been cut up pretty raw, because he cringed and widened his eyes. He looked back at my captors.

"What are you doing to her?" he asked, walking closer.

Kage sighed and pulled out a gun.

"Don't make me use this," he said.

"Leave her alone." The boy said.

I struggled against the hands that held me. Most of the guys stayed fixated on the pale boy, but one elbowed me across the jaw.

The events that followed flashed by in front of me. I heard a metallic sound, one of the guys cursed, and the pale boy slapped the guy behind me across the face. He yelled.

"My eyes!!! MY FACE!!!" he cried, pulling himself into a ball.

Kage turned the light at him. His face was sliced into a bloody mess. Kage pointed the light back at the pale boy, and this time we could see all of him. He was staring at something he held, something sharp. He breathed rapidly. He looked us all in the eye, and pulled up his hand and spread his... fingers.

Knives. They were all sharp, like knives. Sharp and red.

"Leave her alone," he said again quietly.

Kage pulled up his gun and pointed it at the pale boy...the creature.

"Goddamn battle-bots..." he mumbled.

I jumped onto Kage's back and started to choke him. He fell back and fired two shots blindly. One hit one of his buddies, the other hit the ceiling. We heard a loud rumble as the stone ceiling cracked. Chunks of cement, wood, and dust rained down on us. I let go of Kage right as a long piece of wood flattened him to the floor.

I ran out of the path of the rubble. I stood breathing hard, looking down at the four figures. I heard a moan. I turned around.

The creature had been knocked to the ground by a large piece of stone. As he pulled himself up, I saw the red on his head. A portion of his skin had been scraped off, revealing a spot of silver skull.

Kage growled. His leg was twisted in a strange angle. He looked up at me.

"You're dead, Urchin. _Dead_." He mumbled as he tried to pull himself up.

I looked back at the creature. Our eyes met.

"Run." He said.

...Yeah. _Run first, ask questions later. _

I turned on my heels and walked over to the rubble. I moved a wood board and pulled out my street skimmer. Something clanked under it. Kage's gun. I grabbed it, and after shoving it into my coat pocket, I dropped my Skimmer, stomped down on it, and rode off into the cold night.

Like nothing had ever happened.

* * *

Well, I hoped you all enjoyed that. It was fun to write. Tell me if you think I should continue. See ya! 


	2. Becoming Human

Authors Note: well, another week, another chapter. It's freaky how this story is kinda writing itself. Still not quite sure where I'm going with it, but the snippets are starting to fit together nicely.

Disclaimer: Tim Burton and Johnny Depp know nothing and have nothing to do with this. They are busy making Sweeny Todd together, along with Giles from Buffy and Borat.

**VertiCut: Chapter II **

_New Suburbia: Seven Years Later (2199)_

I never saw Kage again.

I never went up to the Haunted Mansion again either. I don't know what that pale faced creature was up there that night, and I don't know if it survived the blow to the head or Kage's wrath. In a city like this, you worry about yourself before you worry about anyone else. So that's what I've done for seven years. In six months, I can leave this city forever. Six months, and I turn eighteen, and I can rent a place under my name without the fuzz bringing me back to a mom that's never home.

My friends all say it's the coward's way out, growing up in a place like this and leaving first chance. I don't care. In these past seven years, I've learned the true definition of a coward. A coward is someone who runs into an alley every time they hear a voice with an accent. A coward is someone who sleeps outside with her friends in the rain so she doesn't have to sleep at home alone. A coward jumps on her hover board and circles the place where a man saved her life, but never goes closer then the chain link fence.

If I cut off the city, I cut off my cowardice. Only six months. Till then, all I can do is sharpen the blade.

I yawn and lean against Beck's bare back. His sharp spine pokes against my shoulder blades.

"Quit shifting." He says in his broken voice.

"Your back is giving me bruises." I say.

"Then get off me," he reasons.

"You should be wearing a shirt in your condition," Tin-Tin says. "You're scaring little kids."

I pull off of Beck and examine his spine. From the base of his shaved head to the elastic line of his boxers, a dark purple and pink line striped down him on his raised spine. Last spring, he got high and passed out, right onto the tracks of a hover train. The train's vacuums crushed his body flat. They had to replace his spine, along with his jaw, voice box, lungs, and liver. Beck doesn't get high anymore. He tried smoking some stuff a few times, but it did something weird to his voice box and now when he talks it sounds like a broken speaker.

A loud siren interrupts my thoughts. I look down the street at the big, armored van. _That van_, that makes my skin crawl. The letters spelled on the side.

**Illegal Bionic Control**

Beck and Tin-Tin tense up as my eyes glaze over. _Don't let it go to the mansion. Don't let it go to the mansion..._

The Van goes forward, the pathway to the middle of nowhere. Located at the base of the mountain.

"It might be one of the abandoned buildings," Tin-Tin says, her black eyes wide. "It might not be the castle."

Tin-Tin and Beck don't understand, but they know how I get whenever I see that van. We chased after it once. It was an old abandoned house, and they went inside with guns. They came out with about ten different Battle-Bots. I don't know what kind of sadistic bastards build intelligent life, give it the ability to think, to feel, and then force it to fight. The Battle-Bots we saw were pretty standard—the layers of lab grown human skin and blood covering the inner robot casing. Beck joked at first—_chewy on the outside, crunchy on the inside. _Then we saw some with the skin rotting off. Their blood was purple and full of puss. Some had their arms cut off and replaced with weapons. They don't convey emotions like us. Can't cry, frown, yell or scream. They just wince in the light, flinch when they're touched, and look hopefully to the men with guns, as if they will show any mercy.

As if a human in this city gives a fuck.

Nobody ever tries to stop them. _Ever_. And while they're all pretending it's not happening, I'm pretending it ain't ripping me up inside.

I look in the glass of a window we're sitting in front of. I see my reflection—a short, tan girl with dreadlocks, wearing her departed fathers old coat over a black bra and tattered jeans. I look at the long scar that extends from the corner of my eye, down across my cheek like a tear. I think of how many other scars I could have gotten.

"Where are you going?!" Beck asks as I stand up.

"To repay a favor." I answer, pulling my Street Skimmer out from under his ass.

"Don't forget the buddy system," he says, pulling out his switchblade and passing it to me. "Anyone drops by to say hi, don't forget to introduce your friend."

"Give 'em hell!!" Tin-Tin yells as I fly after the van.

_**--Snip--**_

The chain link fence has been cut apart. Five men stand around the van. I fly up to the one with the ear bit.

"What is happening?" I ask. The man looks down at me and talks to my bra.

"We had a reported sighting of an Illegal Biomechanical,"—

I see him. For the first time in seven years I see him.

They're pointing guns at him, and pushing him out into the road. He winces and blinks. I know what will happen to him, too. They'll shove him in the van; take him to the holding center. They'll cut off his hands so he won't be a threat, and then they'll probably de-skin him, too. Then they'll question him, study his design, test him, hold him for a year or two, then deactivate him to make room for another one.

"You're wrong," I say, walking after the man.

"You can't be this close to a Battle-Bot. If things were to get ugly..."

"He ain't a Battle-Bot." I say.

The man looks at me, then back at the boy. I do too. He looks almost exactly the same, like he didn't age at all. I could see now his hands were less like knives. More like scissors or something. There was a spot on his forehead, among all the cuts, where small hole opened to reveal a bit of silver skull. _What have I gotten myself into?_

"He ain't a Battle-Bot. I know him." I said.

"I don't have time for this." They guy said, losing interest in my boobs.

" He was left over from the Industrial Abductions." I furthered.

The boy was now standing next to me, trembling. The men with guns behind him regarded my story.

"He was..."

"Industrial Abductions of 2185. When people who were getting robotic prosthetics were kidnapped to do forced labor. He was held in a postcard factory." I said.

"Oh yeah? Doing what?" asked the man.

"...Cutting postcards." I said.

"Get him in the van." The man said.

"You can't take him away if he ain't a Battle-Bot!" I yelled, running after him.

"Girl, he has fucking scissor-hands. Case closed." The man said.

The boy looked at me, eyes trembling.

"Keep moving," the guy behind him instructed.

"My friends know him, too. He isn't a robot. He,"—

Before I could complete my plea, the boy tripped over his feet and fell to the ground. The seven or so armed men all point their guns at him. The boy moans and shakes. He curls himself up feebly.

"See?!" I say. "Look at him! He's shaking. Battle Bots don't do that. Not after they've been scrambled." I say.

The men with the guns look at each other. They don't want to chance picking up a human.

"He could be programmed to do that. He could be retarded. He…" the guy trails off.

I sigh, and pull out Beck's switchblade. I lean over the pale boy. He looks up at me. I cut a deep line down his pale and sliced up cheek. He inhaled quickly and closed his eyes.

"He bleeds, and he bleeds red." I said, pointing with the blade to his open silver skull. "If a Battle Bot had an open head wound like _that_, they would bleed purple and yellow. They have no white blood cells, so they rot. Right?" I said.

The guy looked down at the boy.

"He could be and upgraded model. Could have been laminated... " The guy mumbled.

"Are you really going to take that chance?" I said.

The guy looked at me, eyes brimmed with contempt.

"Fall back." He mumbled.

The men put down their guns and piled into the van. I followed the guy to the front, and watched him get in.

"Human?" I asked, smiling.

"Fuck you, you little whore." He said as the van lumbered away.

When the van was far out of sight, I breathed a sigh of relief. I looked back at the spot the pale boy had been, even though I've lived in this city long enough to know he would already be gone. I looked up at the mansion. Whenever I look at it, and today is no exception, I feel something stir inside me, like a door is shutting and opening. But when I look at it now, the door feels like it's open. It feels as if it's staying that way.

It feels like the pale boy's humanity wasn't the only one I proved.

I drop my Street Skimmer, and ride off to find Beck and Tin-Tin or someone else who will buy me something to eat.

I wanted to put a lot more in this chapter, but oh well. Please tell me what you think.


	3. Of Lights and Shadows

Authors Note- Hello, Hello. Welcome to Chapter 3. I hope you enjoy reading it. I sure enjoyed writing it. Urchin and Edward meet face to face.

Disclaimer- Suburbia and Edward are not at all mine. However, the design structure for New Suburbia, Urchin, Tin-Tin, the "Battle Bots" concept, and Beck are.

**VertiCut: Chapter III **

_New Suburbia: Cafe Iced Wire_

Crushed between the two warm bodies on a single side of a booth at Iced Wire, I can't help but smile. Tin-Tin is screwing around with my hair on one side of me. I'm using her eyeliner to draw stitches over the scars on Beck's chest. Every time I get to his neck, he purrs, and his robotic voice vibrates and makes Tin-Tin and me crack up. Then he cracks up, and his laugh is a million times funnier sounding than the purrs, and we all just collapse onto each other in a fit of hysterics.

"I've never seen you this giddy before," Beck says, wiping the tears from his eyes.

"I've never been giddy. Frivolous, eccentric, and quirky yes, but never giddy." I say looking out the window into the rain.

Beck grabs my arms and pulls me into him.

"What's past is past and that's why it's called past. Stop glancing at the mansion!!!!" he yells.

Tin-Tin snorted and yanked my head back. She pulled a hair tie off her wrist and started to braid some loose strands.

"You know, your dreadlocks are really loose at the top. If you cut it off at the ear, I could brush it out maybe." She said.

Tin-Tin loves hair. She also loves looking pretty. With her exotic look, she pulls it off nicely—her black eyes, blonde hair, and crazy pale skin. With the weather in this city, most people are black coffee like Beck, cream coffee and freckled like me, or they are pasty with no skin pigment…like…

"No way am I losing the dreads. Not until my dad comes back." I say.

"I remember when you were little," Beck says as he traces my teardrop scar down to my jaw with the eyeliner. "You used to sit on the front steps of your apartment, and your dad would always brush out your curly hair. You would always scream and kick and cuss at him something violent. You musta been only six."

I laugh. I remember those days before my dad left, the hours he spent trying to make my hair smooth. After he left, it was only a matter of months before my hair clumped and snaked together.

We sit, silent for a moment. Tin-Tin gathers my hair (by now a mess of dreads, crispy loose hair, and braids) into a ponytail, and Beck traces in my scar with the eyeliner. And yet… in spite of everything, the friends, the food, the warm place to sit, the way I feel so unnaturally human right now, every fiber of my being is pulling me back up to the haunted mansion. I know the way I'm feeling right now has everything to do with saving the pale boy. And I love it. This feeling, this heroic feeling. It's so refreshingly unnerving compared to the comfort of being a coward.

"Where are you going?! " Tin-Tin says as I zip up my coat and grab my Skimmer.

"No, no! You can't go now!!!" Beck yells in protest.

"Thanks for the eats, guys. I'll meet up with you later." I say out the door.

I jump on my Street Skimmer and make my way to the mansion.  
_  
_

_**---Snip---**_

It's too dark for me to see anything between the fog and sheets of rain. The water parts beneath me as I ride up the winding path to the mansion. The gate to the garden has been knocked down. I hope off the skimmer and blindly feel my way through the garden until I come to a door. It opens when I push it.

The inside is big. Much bigger than I remember it. I walk in, soaked and shivering. I look around.

"Hello?!?" I yell. My voice echoes. I walk across the room.

It's so goddamn big inside. A place like this will be swarming with battle bots in a number of days. Hell, a place like this could attract fighters. They could have a battle ring.

"HELLO!?!" I demand frantically.

Silence. _Maybe he already left._

Jesus Christ…what the hell am I doing here? I already put myself on the line today. Why do i need to come back? I don't owe the pale boy anything.

Do I?

Feeling like a fool, I take off my coat and lie it down at the base of the staircase. I numbly drop onto it, and start to wait out the rain. The fading prospect of escaping reality has taken a toll on more than my water endurance.  
_**  
**_

_**---Snip---**_

When I wake up, the rain has stopped. I panic when I see that the mansion isn't pitch dark. How long have I been here? Tin-Tin and Beck are going to have a fucking heart attack.

As I stand up and pull on my coat, I hear footsteps. I look up the staircase. A shadow against the wall shifts and disappears. I grab my Street Skimmer and start up after it.

I would have run if the stairs didn't creak under my weight. As I approached the top, I felt a cold breeze against my face. As I stepped into an enormous room, I was nearly blinded by the light streaming in from the decaying ceiling. In the light, I can make out a big, dark fireplace covered with little bits of paper. Aside from that, the room appears to be empty.

I walked gingerly over the rotting floorboards to the patch of missing ceiling. At first, I didn't know what I was seeing. Half of the view was pitch black (the night sky presumably), the other was a collage of bright lights—blue, red, gold, white, green. The entire ground completely illuminated...all casting shadows into the room.

Holy shit...that's New Suburbia.

_Oh, fuck...it must be past midnight. Beck and Tin-Tin are gonna go ape-shit on me._

I stand, unsure of what to do. I start to wrench my eyes away from New Suburbia. A loud metallic slice echoes through the crisp air behind me.

I spin around; although I can't be sure exactly which shadow conceals the source of the noise. I flick open my switchblade. A quick intake of breath from the dark of the fireplace. I look closer. Sure enough, hunched up against the side is the pale boy. His black incasing camouflages him well. I slowly walk over to him.

"...Hey." I say.

He doesn't move. He stares at me, his eyes wide with fear. I look down at the switchblade in my palm.

"Forgive the knife--it's just a precaution," I say, waggling the blade. The pale boy draws back.

I crouch down.

"The Illegal Bionic Control officer made a point. You do have fucking scissors for hands...and I ain't taking chances." I continue. "And after the way you turned that guy's face into lunch meat. You do remember that...seven years ago?"

The boy looked towards the staircase. The small hole on his forehead glistened silver when he turned. I reached out to touch it. The metal was warm.

"Is this from that night, or something else?" I asked.

The boy jerked his head back violently. He drew himself closer to the wall and stared at the floor.

_What the fuck is my problem? I must be terrifying him._

I look down at the switchblade. The buddy system, Beck calls it. Never go near anyone without a defense weapon.

_Sorry, Beck._

I put the blade on the floor, and roll it away. The boy looks up at me.

"I'm sorry I cut you. It was the only way I could prove you were human. I won't do it again." I said.

He was staring at me, as if he was unsure of whether to trust me.

"You got a name?" I asked.

The boy looked down and nodded.

"...Edward." he said in a broken voice.

"Edward. My name's Urchin." I said.

He gave a strange look. His eyes widened.

"...Urchin..." he whispered.

"You saved my life. When I was ten." I said. "There were a bunch of guys, and they were gonna rip me apart. You remember, don't you?"

The pale boy—Edward, he stared at me for a moment. He looked at my scar. He nodded.

"So...we're square now, right? You won't be pissed if I don't thank you?" I say.

Edward shook his head.

"Good." I say, standing up. "I came up here to tell you should get out of here. In a few days, this place will be swarming with battle bots, and when the Bionic Control guys come again, I won't be able to talk them out of it."

"...Where...where are you going?" Edward asked.

"Back to hell." I said, picking up the switchblade. "Less you want me to stay."

"I would like that." He said gently.

I looked at him dully.

"You want me to stay?"

He nodded.

"Okay. You're funeral." I said sitting back down.

I scooted over into the fireplace across from him. I was close enough now to make out his details in the dark—his black leather suit was faded. The belt buckles that seemed to keep it in place were all rusted. His hair was clumped together, like how mine used to get before I grew dreads. His incredibly pale face was covered in angry scars. I looked at his black eyes, which were glued onto me. I looked away. Neither one of us said anything.

"What are you?" I asked to break the silence.

Edward looked down, like he was embarrassed or something.

"Sorry. That was...were you built, or did you have parents?" I asked.

"...My father built me." Edward said after a pause.

"No kidding?"

"He was an inventor." He said.

I smiled.

"My dad was an inventor, too." I said. I picked up my Street Skimmer.

"See this? He designed this. It was a prototype—first one ever made. They got it in stores all over the country now, but this one is special. He put in a whole bunch of bonus things- a light, a verti-boost, and different speed settings." I said eagerly. Edward examined it.

"You had it with you before." He said.

"Yeah. My dad gave it to me before he went missing." I said. "Where's your dad?"

Edward looked back to the floor.

"...He died." Edward said softly.

"That's sad. How long have you been here by yourself?" I asked.

"A very long time."

I tapped my fingers on the wood floor.

"Do you know how long?" I asked.

Edward looked over at the hole in the ceiling. He looked out into the blinding light, like he was looking for an answer. I followed his glance. The whole city and not one dark spot visible. The blips of bright white and green and yellow twist and dance together.

"Before the lights were out there." He said finally.

I look back at Edward---really look at him. The light against his face, and the shadows his scars carve across him. The white of his skin, and the black of his eyes. The little hole that reveals his silver skull. He almost looks like a painting. He turns back at me, and I quickly glance away.

_What am I getting myself into?_

* * *

Sorry if this chapter was a bit long. I wanted to fit a lot of Edward into it. I'm writing this in a hurry, so forgive any grammatical errors I made, and rest assured I will fix them as soon as I can. I really wanted to hear what you make of this chapter—especially (gulp) if I got Edward right. 

Anything you have to say is a million times appreciated! Thank you and goodnight!


	4. Hell and Back

Authors Note- whoo-hoo! Welcome to another chapter! I'll skip all the formal shit and cut down to brass tax—I hope you like it!

Disclaimer- Subtract Edward, the name Suburbia, and the haunted mansion, I could write a book with all that shit in here that's mine. So…suck on that, Burton.

No. I didn't really mean that.

* * *

**VertiCut: Chapter IV**

_New Suburbia: The Condemned Mansion_

"Who were those people?" Edward asked.

"The men in the van? That was Illegal Bionic Control." I said.

Edward tilted his head.

"They take away unregistered cyborgs that are being forced to fight. You know what a robot is, right?" I asked.

"Like Johnny 5?" he asked.

"…Johnny _what_?"

Edward shook his head. I continued.

"People make fight rings and bet on fighting robots or cyborgs. Most of them have skin and flesh. It's a hazard, because without this special lamination that's really expensive, they are like plague rats—transporting diseases and shit." I said.

"You look like them, you know." I added "Your clothes, your hands. A lot of Battle Bots—that's what they call them—have had their arms replaced with weapons."

"Is that why they tried to take me away?" Edward asked.

"Yeah, but only 'cuz this part of town is abandoned. You can bet two fucks they would not try that shit in the main part of town where all the people are. Robots don't act like you…they don't show fear. Not like us. Anybody walking down the street would have been able to tell you were human."

Edward looked up at me, surprised.

"Really?" he asked. His metal fingers twitched.

"Well, I had to cut you to prove it to them. See, you heal,"—

I reached out and pointed to where I cut him.

"Battle-Bots can't. They just bleed till whoever's fighting them cauterizes their wounds. The ones I've seen, they bled until the blood got thick and clumpy and couldn't come out anymore. It's sick. Their skin and blood isn't essential for them to live—it's just a cover. But they can feel it. They can feel all the pain. Sometimes they end up gnawing the flesh off their legs and arms so they won't have to put up with it." I said.

Edward's eyes were wide, and his fingers were twitching out of control. I leaned back against the side of the fireplace.

"Sorry. Things like that…they get to me. My dad, he was really against using robots like that. He made them, you know." I said.

"He did?" Edward asked.

"Well, he designed them. He did a lot with cyborgs and artificial body parts. He saved a lot of people with his research. A lot of robots, too."

"He sounds like a good person." Edward said.

I nodded.

"Urchin?" Edward asked.

"Yeah?"

"…Before you cut me…you said you knew I was human. How did…why did you think that?" Edward asked.

I yawned and let myself slide down the wall.

"I've known you were human since the day I first met you." I mumbled.

He stared at me, waiting for me to elaborate.

"You sliced that guys face up. No robots do that. Not even Battle-Bots do that, and they have machete for arms. You can tell them to—they just won't do it. Robots can't hurt humans. You can." I said.

Edward looked confused. Hurt.

"It's not a bad thing, believe me Edward. It saved my life." I said, my eyelids lowering.

Edward looked out at New Suburbia. I did too. The sea of lights was mesmerizing.

Edward said something, but I don't know what. I could barely hear him. Something about pain, life and death. I don't know. I shrugged.

"Here's a tip for the future Edward," I said as I closed my eyes. "The key to being human is inhumanity."

_**-Snip-**_

I yawn and open my eyes. I was curled up in the fireplace, my dads jacket covering me like a blanket.

"Aw, fuck. Did I fall asleep?" I asked out loud.

"Yes."

I screamed and pulled myself up. Edward jumped back.

"I'm sorry." He said.

"No, no, no—it's my fault. Damnit, this is the most I've slept in months. You don't have any way to tell the time up here, do you?" I asked.

Edward walked over to the gap in the ceiling.

"It's one fifteen." He said.

I stood up, hiked my bra down, and put on my jacket.

"How do you know that?" I asked.

"There's a big sign." Edward answered.

I pulled myself over to where he stood. The city was no longer the blanket of light and dark. it was replaced with what i only assume is the interior of hell: huge smoking factories, crusty old streets, towering sky-scrappers, and free ways and overpasses and highways that knot off the city from the rest of the world.

A holographic billboard illuminated the time.

"OH Shit! Shit, _shit_!" I screamed.

"What is it?" Edward asked.

I ran back over to the fireplace and scooped the knife back up and grabbed my Street Skimmer.

" My friends are going to kill me. I need to go, and I have to go now!" I said.

"Will you come back?" Edward asked.

I turned and looked at him.

"I guess…if you really want me to." I said.

"I do."

I laugh nervously. I have no idea why.

"Edward?" I asked.

"Yes?"

" I…I don't normally do this kind of thing, so know this means a lot…"

"What is it?" Edward asked, taking a step forward.

"Thanks for saving me." I say.

I take off down the stairs, trying to loosen my foot harness. A loud, crashing sound echoes as I reach the bottom of the stairs. I drop my Street Skimmer, and yank out my switchblade. I turn, and look into the hallway next to the staircase.

_Someone's in there._

I step limberly down the last few steps, and peer down at the figure.

He smells…awful. Like rotting flesh. Jesus Christ. His pants are torn and bloody, and one pant leg has been ripped off, revealing a crude robotic leg that disappears into a mess of bloody bandages. One of his arms was gone at the elbow. The metallic joint gleamed, while loose, ripped skin and stripped wires hung down from it. His face…oh god, his face. He had no skin on his mouth…no skin on his jaw. From his upper lip down, there was a metal, skeletal jaw—dripping with blood and stained with rust.

He stared at me—captivated. He took a small step forward and reached out his working hand.

"…Human?" he asked softly.

I jumped on my Skimmer, turned it on, and flew out of there as fast as I fucking could.

_**-Snip-**_

I flew nervously down the back alleys next to Tin-Tins apartment complex. I stopped at a tarp that had been squeezed into the narrow space. I stepped off my Skimmer, and walked between the sheets that closed the entrance.

The only thing I made out was Tin-Tin sitting on a musty couch. Beck jumped at me, and pushed me to the ground.

"WHERE THE FUCK HAVE YOU BEEN!?" Beck yelled. His voice echoed like a broken speaker.

I opened my mouth, and Beck punched me across the face. Hard.

"Do you have any idea what you put us through!? We thought you were dead! We thought you'd been killed! We thought you were suffocating in some dark alley and there was nothing we could do!" Beck rasped.

"Get the FUCK off me." I said blankly.

Beck started screaming. What, I do not know. Whatever he was saying was so loud that it couldn't be heard over his mechanical moans.

" KNOCK IT OFF!"

Tin-Tin wrapped her arms around Beck and tried to yank him off me. I slid out from under him and Tin-Tin let him drop.

"If you punched me harder, you coulda put me into a coma." I said.

"We waited hours for you. Hours. Hours of cold rain and you didn't come back." Beck moaned into the ground.

"It…it is true. We looked for you everywhere." Tin-Tin nodded.

"I ain't some little kid got to have someone to protect her," I mumbled as I spit out a mouthful of blood. I touched my face and winced.

"Fuck, Beck. That kills." I moaned.

"We're all we got, Urchin," he said, pulling himself up. "You, Tin-Tin, me, we're all each other has. You can't do that to us again. Just leave, and not come back. If anything happened to you...I...I don't know what I would do."

I shot Beck an angry look.

"You ain't all I got." I said.

Beck sighed.

"How longs it been, Urchin? Ten years? Your father isn't coming back." Beck said.

I twisted around and punched Beck. My fist twisted around his throat, and he fell to the floor in a spasm of metallic coughs.

"How dare you. You have no right. NO RIGHT." I hissed.

Beck turned his face away from me. Like he didn't want me to see him.

Tin-Tin looked back between me and Beck. She grabbed a handful of her hair.

"Urchin...does this mean you ain't staying?" she asked.

I spit another mouthful of blood and looked down. I don't need this. Not now, not ever. I love Tin-Tin, and I love Beck. They've been my family for over seven years.

_The people we love are the one's that will hurt us the most._

"I think..." I said slowly. "I need some time to myself."

I silently look over at Tin-Tin.

"Is my stuff still in your room?" I asked.

Wordlessly, Tin-Tin grabbed my ponytail and marched me out of the alley. We walked up the steps and into the apartment complex. She took out her key-card, and opened the door to her apartment.

I walked back to her room and started gathering up all my things. She watched nervously by the side.

"Take some food with you, okay?" she asked.

"I plan to."

I grabbed my duffle bag out of her closet, and started stuffing clothes into it. I didn't even check if it was hers or mine.

"Beck and me were really worried, you know. We checked everywhere. Beck especially." She said.

I didn't say anything.

"We went to South Gate, even asked Lintu if she'd seen you," Tin went on nervously, wringing her hair in her hands.

I shrug as I keep packing.

"Beck…he went to the hospital. To talk to your mom," she said.

"HE WHAT?!" I screamed. I hadn't seen or heard from my mom in ages. She stopped coming home from her hospital shifts long ago.

"I told you we were really worried." She whispered.

"I can take care of myself." I said.

I stood up and walked into the kitchen. I pulled open the fridge.

"Do you know where you'll go?" she asked.

I didn't say anything. I stuffed a few pre-made sandwich wraps into my bag.

"Yeah."

"You're gonna go up to the mansion, right?" she asked.

Tin-Tin and Beck don't know much about my history with the mansion. They know I got my scar up there, they know a man saved my life up there, and they know I don't want Illegal Bionic Control to go near it. Other then that, they filled in the pieces themselves.

"You're gonna be okay? Right? I mean, you're gonna come back?" Tin-Tin asked.

I shoved some soda cans, a few bottles of water, and some take out boxes into the bag.

"I'll be back in a few days. Take care of Beck. That is, make sure he doesn't…do anything stupid." I said.

"Gotch ya." Tin-Tin said cheerfully.

I looked over my shoulder at her. Tin-Tins golden hair was done back in a mess of braids and clippies. Her pale skin showed no flaw or blemish. Her big flowery overalls hung loosely over some pink t-shirt from an old, old movie or TV show. Seeing her shirt, it made me remember something Edward said.

"Hey, Tin? Does the name Johnny 5 mean anything to you?" I asked.

Tin-Tin grinned like a maniac.

"Yeah. He was from Short Circuit." She said.

"What was that? A book or,"—

"It's a movie, a really old movie. Johnny was a robotic weapon. He got struck by lightning and became alive."

"Okay. How old is it, exactly?" I asked.

"Um…1980 something was the original one. That's when all the good movies were made, you know. The nineteen hundreds." She said.

_It was also_, (I realize with some level of uncomprehending wonder) _the last time Edward came to Suburbia._

"Urchin? Did you hear me?" Tin asks. I shake my head.

"I asked if you think this is a good idea."

Do I know that? What do I know? I know I've just decided to spend the next few days in a crumbling mansion from a few centuries ago, and that I saw a rotting Battle-Bot on my way out. I know the man who lives there saved my life. I know he has a metal skull, and scissors for hands. I know he is over two hundred and twenty years old. I'm abandoning my oldest friends for Edward, even though I only just met him last night.

But knowing all this just makes me want to see him more.

I answer Tin-Tin by zipping up the bag and running out the door.

* * *

Well, that's chapter four for you! I wanted to reference the 80's somehow as the time period Edward went down to Suburbia in. If none of you have seen Short Circuit, it is pretty much everything Tin-Tin said. A little on the cheesy side, but very cute and heartwarming.

Thanks for reading, and if you have any ideas or suggestions or ideas, please do not hesitate to leave a review.


	5. Cutting Lines

Authors Note- Hello and happy February, readers! I was going through my email, and I found this chapter. I had totally forgotten I wrote it. So, here it is! Now, this next chapter gets a little gritty in description of battle-bots. If you get grossed out by blood and stuff, here is your bold, friendly warning: **reader may find some images in this next chapter a bit disturbing.**

Disclaimer- Although Edward and Suburbia is not mine, Urchin, her friends, and the storyline are all part of my ShadowTown series, which I plan to put on fiction press someday in the future.

* * *

**VertiCut : Chapter V**

_New Suburbia: The Condemned Mansion_

The smell was almost unbearable. It was strong enough to make me lurch forward, which in turn, made me flip over on my Street Skimmer and slide across the floor. Gagging, I brought my hands to my nose.

"Human?"

Good god. I was only gone for a few hours, and it smelled as if half a dozen more Battle Bots found their way up here. I glanced warily upward.

It wasn't the one I saw before. This one was wearing a leather overcoat with buckles and belts. The sleeves of the coat had been torn off, revealing that the skin on his right arm had been burnt down to crispy muscle, and his left arm had been cut off at the elbow—replaced with a filed, angry machete. His face was barely a face any more. The torn skin had been stapled to cover some key areas of distortion. It was pulled upward, over the eyes—with a big hole that a black camera lens poked out of on the left.

He lowered down on his legs and reached out a fried hand to me.

"Human." He said.

With one hand over my mouth, I yanked my knife out and pointed it at him.

"Keep away." I choked out.

The robots camera lens eye extended out of his head, caked with blood. I gagged. He tilted his head, then glanced down at his machete. I followed his gaze. His machete arm was wielded on, the skin blistered at the base. The Machete itself was dripping in blood and skin. He reached quickly to roll his pant leg down, but I glimpsed the shining metal and red. That was what smelled so bad.

He had been skinning himself.

_Oh, Jesus Christ. Edward._

I pulled myself up, and turned my Skimmer back on. I rode it roughly up the stairs.

"Edward?" I yelled.

"Human."

There were three more Battle Bots crowded around a corner. The all propped themselves up and looked at me. I saw a movement between their mangled legs.

"EDWARD!"

I ran over to the Battle Bots and pushed them out of the way. Edward was hunched against the back wall, his arm awkwardly pushed against his nose and a look of sheer horror on his face.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

Edward barely moved.

"Human…"

"Human?"

I turned back at the festering Battle-Bots. I recognized the one with the jaw I saw when I left. The other two were just as mutilated—a girl wearing some sort of leather cat outfit. Her fingers were spliced into long sharp hooks, and the holes in her mask revealed she had no skin on her face. Just sharp metal teeth and yellow filters over her camera lens eyes. As for the other, he was probably the reason Edward was covering his nose. He looked Asian, and was covered in tattoos. He had two bloody swords for arms, and it appeared he had also been in the process of skinning himself—all of him from the waist down was completely robotic.

Shit. These looked like escaped star fighters here—people only dress up the good ones.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

Edward shook his head from behind his arm.

I felt something warm against the back of my neck. I turned around. The Battle Bot with the skinless jaw was touching me. The sides of his upper lip curled up into what I assume would have been a grin.

"Human." He said. Blood dripped from his mouth.

Edward gagged.

"Leave us alone." I said.

The cat girl made some throaty noise. She touched Edwards scissor finger with a hooked claw.

I yanked out my knife and pointed it at them.

"I said leave us ALONE!" I yelled.

The robots drew back. I walked forward and slashed the switchblade at them.

"GET OUT, GET OUT, GET OUT!"

The female clamped her hands over her ears, and the three of them limped over to the stairs and disappeared.

"…Edward?" I asked.

Edward gagged into his arm again. I pulled off my bag and took out a bottle of water. Twisting the cap, I pushed the bottle to Edwards lips.

"Drink this."

Edward drank a few sips before he stared coughing. I patted him on the back.

" When Battle-Bots run away, they hide in old buildings. This whole neighborhood is abandoned, so now that the bottom gate's been pulled down, they're all gonna come up here."

Those were Battle-Bots?" Edward gasped.

"Yeah. Don't let them get so close to you next time. They can make you sick." I said.

"Why do they act like that?" Edward asked.

I poured some of the water into my hand and brushed it across my face.

"The people who fight em' do something weird to their minds. It's called scrambling. They use this machine that reconfigures the way information gets relayed to the brain."

Edward tilted his head.

"Oh…sorry, that's just stuff my…dad said, um, it means that they don't understand what's going on. Most of them can't say anything but 'human'. That's basically the only thing they can recognize." I said.

Edward let his head drop. I sat down next to him.

"They didn't always use 'em for fighting, you know. When I was little, anyone could buy a robot."

"Did you have one?" Edward asked.

I smiled.

"Yeah. When I was really little. It was my dad's assistant. He called it Asimov."

"What happened to him?" Edward.

"Well, about two years before my dad went missing These underground fight rings started up and everyone went crazy. People were buying robots, stealing them, making their own and forcing them to fight. To stop it, the city made it so you had to fill out all this special paperwork and have a license and a contract to own a robot. My dad filled all that stuff out, but part of the agreement is that you don't tamper with the robot. But my dad was always updating Asimov—finding ways to make him smarter, to make him work better. When they found out, they took him away."

I glanced over at Edward and smiled sadly.

"He's probably dead by now." I said, partially to myself.

Edward winced and twitched a bladed finger.

"What is it?" I asked.

"You're bleeding."

I touched my cheek and winced.

"Ain't no thing." I mumbled.

"What happened?" Edward asked.

"I got into a fight with my friend. He told me not to leave him again."

"What did you do?"

"I...I came up here." I said.

Edward didn't say anything. He didn't need to. He nodded solemnly, letting me know he understood. I reached deep into the backpack, and pulled out a napkin to wipe the blood off my face.

"Can I stay here for a few days?" I asked.

_**-Snip-**_

"The last time I saw my mom was about two, three months ago. And that was only for a split second. She's a nurse at the hospital." I paused and took a bite of a sandwich wrap.

"—Hospital's clear on the other side of town. You need to take the hover trains to get to it. So she doesn't bother coming home. Neither do I. I bet she's got a boyfriend over on the South Gate and she lives with him."

"South Gate?" Edward repeated.

"Yeah. All the way past the Projects and all the scum in between. You hungry?"

I passed the sandwich to Edward and he took a bite of it. As the sun had set and the lights of New Suburbia cut through the sky and divided white from black, Edward had listen to me tell him about my life. Edward didn't talk very much himself. Whenever I asked him a question, he would either answer it in a few words, or not answer at all.

"Where do you live?" Edward asked with his mouth full.

"West Suburbia, same as you. You said they called it Suburbia when you were there?"

Edward nodded.

"Yeah, that was a long time ago. I think about midway into the twenty-first century, they began to expand. It was…2205 when the city joined up Suburbia with these two other big cities next to it," I explain. "There's three main sections of Suburbia. South Gate, that's sort of like up-town. The people there are awful. Overindulged and spoiled assholes, you should see what they do to themselves for the sake of 'fashion'. The Projects, that's just a big hole in the ground. The City kinda turns a blind eye to it since it's so cut off and massive, a lotta shady shit goes on down there. And then there's us. West Side. Working class, factories, and ghettos. This isn't as bad as the Projects, but it ain't the kind of place you want to be caught without a knife."

We heard something smash from downstairs. Edward jumped.

"It's also a hotspot for Battle-Bots." I add.

Edward and I stood still for a moment. Footsteps rattled from downstairs, and a long, metallic screech cut into the air. I glanced back over at Edward.

He was shaking.

"You went down to Suburbia once, right?" I said, trying to change the subject.

Edward nodded.

"What happened?" I asked.

"...I decided it would be better if I came back." Edward said.

"There wasn't anything you liked about Suburbia?"

Edward looked out over the hole in the ceiling and into the lights.

"Kim." He whispered.

"Who was that?"

"She was my friend."

He spoke in a voice I hadn't heard him use before. One that dragged up emotions I knew I would never understand unless he told them to me, and one I would make it a point never to ask about.

"So was I the first person you saw since Kim?" I asked.

"Other people came." Edward said.

"You remember any of 'em?"

"Gina Gallagher." Edward said, smiling.

"Who was she?" I asked.

"Kim's grand-daughter."

I sat up.

"She came up here to talk after school. She loved movies. She wanted to act." Edward said.

"You ever see Kim again?" I asked.

Edward shook his head.

"Kim had died."

"Sorry. So...what happened to her? To Gina?" I asked.

"She moved when she finished school. She came back every Christmas to visit her family, and she would come up here."

"And then...?"

"And then she stopped coming." Edward said.

A small chill runs down my spine.

"Sorry. I shouldn't have asked."

"You didn't know." He said gently.

I pushed the last bit of sandwich in my mouth.

"Some other people came. Right before you did." Edward added, as if he just remembered.

"Who?"

"Two men."

"Was it Kage? They people you saved me from?" I asked.

Edward shook his head.

"I think they were doctors. One of them was really sick."

"What did they do?"

"They were looking at …designs my father made. They took some." He said.

"Did they see you?" I asked.

"One of them did. The one who was sick. He said ..."_I'll come back for you_."

"You ever see him again?" I asked.

Edward shook his head.

A metallic, cracking noise echoed from outside. This time, Edward and I both jumped. I crawled over to the broken window that overlooked the garden. The vine-covered gate had been pushed down. In the light, I could see dozens of Battle-Bots crawling over the vines.

_Shit._

"Is it more of them?" Edward whispered.

"Yeah." I answer. "A lot."

I stood up and walked back over to the fire place.

"Edward?" I asked.

Edward looked up at me.

"I don't know how long it's gonna be before someone calls Illegal Bionic Control and gets these guys hauled out. I ain't sticking around to find out. And I don't think you should either."

"What?" Edward asked

"I'm gonna leave in the next few days. When I do…I think you should come with me."

Edward twisted his head and sliced himself on his twitching fingers.

"Leave?"

"Yeah." I said as I sat down next to him. " Leave. With me."

Edward contorted his face in confusion and fear.

"I...I can't." He whispered.

"It's a different world out there, Edward. I'm not gonna lie and say it's any better. But if you stay here, they'll find you like they did before. They'll take you away. They'll hurt you. They'll probably kill you. And..."

I leaned back against the fireplace.

"...And I'm so fucking sick of people getting taken away from me." I said.

Edward looked out at the Suburbia night sky. The blood from his cut trickled down his cheek, the red almost reflecting the white light from outside.

"I don't know." He said.

I reach forward and wipe the blood off his face. He flinches when I touch him, and looks back at me with wide eyes.

"Edward...let me help you."

* * *

So there you have it, the end of chapter five. If there are any mistakes, I'll be back to fix them soon. I love to hear from anyone, so don't hesitate to leave a review.

Have a good day!


	6. All These Years Alone

Authors Note- Check it out! It's chapter six! I had to trim a lot off this chapter so it wouldn't be too long. I wanted to end it on a different note, but this chapters end will just have to be next chapters beginning.

Disclaimer- Not mine.

**VertiCut: Chapter VI**

_New Suburbia: The Condemned Mansion_

I shield my eyes against the bright light that seeps into the attic. Morning. I glance around the room for Edward before IT hits me.

Oh my God. That awful smell…

I bring my hands to my nose as I gag. Doesn't do any good. The smell—unbearable and overpowering—is coming from all directions.

"Edward?" I say.

No answer. I grab my pack and pull out some clothes. After yanking on one of Tin-Tin's dresses and a new pair of jeans, I grab my switchblade and make my way down the stairs.

**_--Snip--_**

"Human."

"Human?"

"Human…"

Jesus Christ. I've never seen so many battle-bots in my life. I didn't know there were this many in the city that had never been caught. All of them bleeding, broken, slicing off their skin or sitting on the floor, in too much pain to move.

I scanned the sea of skin, but I didn't see Edward. If Edward had been down there, I would have heard them chanting Human before they saw me, anyway.

I heard a crash from up the stairs. Confused, I ran back up. After the first long flight of stairs, there was a dark hallway to the side of the few steps to the attic. I could see that a doorway at the end of it was open. As I walked closer, I saw the door had a small label next to it. I brushed the gray dust off of it.

**Storage Room A**

The inside of the room was filled with all sorts of weird looking machines. Old fashion and rusting, most of them with creepy round metal heads. I heard a snipping noise from the back of the room. I ran.

"Edward?" I called.

I work my way behind a conveyor belt and find myself in the corner of the room. A strange machine shaped like an old fashion phone booth hums in the corner. I walk up to it. There's a button panel and a long, rusty lever. I look through the cloudy glass.

"…Edward?"

I feel hot air on the back of my neck.

"What are you doing?"

I gasp and spin around. As I do, I bump the lever back.

The machine started to make a whirling noise. The door folded shut, and the entire machine started to fill up with water.

"What the…"

When the water hit the top, four blue pills shot out of the corners of the machine. The water began to churn and bubble, like it was boiling. As the boiling stopped, a conveyor belt folded out from underneath the machine. The glass door opened, and a giant chunk of ice slid out.

I stood silently for a moment before turning and looking back at Edward.

"Your father made this." I said.

"Yes." He said.

I smile.

"What are you doing in here?" I asked.

"Hiding." Edward said.

I nodded.

"We should go back up to the attic. We can see the road from there in case anyone's coming." I suggested.

He nodded. I walked around the conveyor belt, and Edward followed behind me.

"Most of my dad's inventions were taken away when he disappeared. All I have left is my Street Skimmer." I said.

"Taken away?"

"The companies that mass produced off his prototypes found legal loop holes that made my dads stuff theirs." I said. " My dad had a whole warehouse full of shit he made before he went into artificial limb replacement and robot designing. When he disappeared, my mom sold all the rest, I guess."

We walked out of the hall and over to the small staircase. I was about to take a step when Edward tensed.

"Wait." He said.

"Huh?"

"Listen."

I didn't move. I didn't hear anything. Not the sounds of the Battle-Bots scraping their feet, nor their metallic shrieks or cries for human.

"I don't like the sound of that." I said.

I looked to the attic, then back down the staircase.

"Lets check it out." I said.

At the bottom of the stairs, there were no robots. There were fallen limbs, puddles of rotten blood, and fabric... but the Battle-Bots themselves were gone.

"Did they all leave?" Edward asked.

"No way. I came down here just before, there must have been a hundred of 'em. Something's happening."

"_Human_…?"

Edward and I glanced at each other. I walked off the staircase and looked into the hallway behind it.

It was the first robot I saw, the one with the exposed metal jaw. He looked at me and nodded.

"Human." He said, and disappeared back into the shadows.

"Shit." I said.

I ran to the door and walked out into the courtyard. I couldn't see anything, but I heard it. The sirens. More than one of them, too.

**Illegal Bionic Control. **

"What's happening?" Edward asked as he walked outside.

I turned around.

"We need to go!!" I said.

Edward stopped in his tracks.

"…Wha…What?" He whispered.

"The Battle-Bots are hiding. They're coming for them. Edward, we need to go. We need to go right NOW." I yelled.

Edward took a step back. His fingers twitched out of control.

"But…but I…"

I grabbed Edward's arms. One of his fingers sliced my forearm, but I didn't feel it or care.

"LISTEN TO ME!! This isn't a choice. You stay here, it's suicide. They'll take you away, cut you up and kill you!!" I said.

I stared into Edwards eyes, black pools of fear and confusion. He opened and shut his mouth.

"Urchin…"

"I'm NOT going to leave you here to die." I said firmly.

Edward stared back at me. He swallowed and nodded.

"Good." I said, letting go of him. "Is there any other way to leave the mountain besides the gateway at the bottom?"

Edward nodded.

"Okay. I've never walked from or back, so you're gonna have too…"

Oh, No. NO, NO, NO, NO. _My Street Skimmer_.

"Fuck." I whisper. I turn around.

"Edward, if the sirens get too close, leave without me." I yell as I run back inside.

I climb the steps three at a time and practically throw myself into the attic. I throw my bag around my back, grab my dad's coat and pick up my Street Skimmer. The sirens are loud. I glance over to hole in the ceiling.

Oh god. There must be a dozen of them.

I run over to the broken window.

"EDWARD!!" I yell.

Edward looks up at me.

"Edward, go!! I'll meet you at the bottom!!"

Edward shakes his head.

"No." He says.

"WHAT?! YOU CAN'T STAY HERE!! GET OUT OF HERE!!" I scream.

"No…" Edward said. "Not without you."

I bit my lip. Every second I spend up here is another moment wasted. I drop my Street Skimmer to the ground and turn it on. I fit my feet into the harnesses, and with a deep breath, I stomp on the Verti-Boost.

I lean forward and let myself fly out of the window.

I skim across the bushes and plow into the fallen gate. The rust and vines scratch me up something raw, but I wipe the blood off my face and look over at Edward.

"Let's go."

**_--Snip--_**

After dodging through the trail and avoiding IBC agents leading down Battle-Bots by the dozen, Edward led me to a part of the stone wall where the bricks had crumbled low enough to climb over. I had let Edward use my dad's coat, and we were able to get my apartment without any trouble.

I took the key card out from under the mat and pressed in the security code. As soon as we were in, I slammed the door and sunk down on my knees.

"Made it." I whisper.

I sit against the door, breathing deeply and pulsating in the city's daytime heat. After a couple of minutes, I sit up and look over at Edward.

"I think some of my friends can help us." I say.

Edward begins to twitch his fingers.

"Don't worry. Beck went to a lot of places for his robotic replacements. He's made some connections. I think he has a friend who could give us some papers saying you actually were in the Industrial Abductions. Maybe…."

I stand up.

"He might even be able to fix your hands." I say.

Edward widens his eyes.

"Really?" he asked.

"We shouldn't hope for too much though. This is a desperate city. There aren't many safe places left to turn to." I mumble.

"I'm gonna go take a shower. Then I'll go get Beck and Tin-Tin. You can wait it my room. It's probably cooler in there." I say.

"Urchin?" Edward says.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you." Edward says.

I smile.

"Don't mention it." I say.

_**--Snip--**_

After rinsing the grit and blood off of me I change into a new set of clothes and walk out into the kitchen. I hear a creak from the doorway.

"Edward?"

"Freeze."

I turn around in the kitchen. A woman leaning against the wall cocks a gun at me. Her curly jet-black hair cascades around her head. She wears a toasted brown leather jacket over red hospital scrubs.

"Oh. Sorry, G. I didn't know it was you. Is Edward your new boyfriend?" She says in her scratchy, New York accent.

"What are you doing here, Cherry?" I ask.

"Beck came by the hospital the other day. Said he didn't know where you were at, but I guess you were just here. Were you? Just here?" She asks.

"No, just showed up. Is that my gun?" I ask.

"I found it in a box under your bed a few months ago. You can have it back, um…if you want it." She drops the gun on the couch and sits down next to it.

I nervously look back at my room.

"What were you doing in my room?" I asked.

"I was looking for something. Some files." She says.

I lower my head and try to see through her black hair. Her heavily made-up eyes are a mess. Mascara and eyeliner drips down and stains her cheeks. She looks like she hasn't slept in a while.

"We need to talk about some stuff."

"What do we have to talk about?" I ask.

A snip echoes out through my room. I ignore it, but my mom sits up.

"Did you here that?!" she asks.

"Hear what?"

Cherry grabs the gun and walks across the hall to my room. I follow behind her, but I'm not fast enough to see or prevent her scream.

I walk into my room. My mom has Edward pinned up against the wall, The gun at his head.

"What the fuck is this, G? " she asks. Edward flinches.

"Cherry, put the gun down." I say.

"Urchin, tell me you did not bring a weapon into this home." My mom demands.

"He ain't a Battle-Bot. He's human." I say.

"You take me for a fool?! What are you? You fighting them now? Huh?!" My mom yells.

"He's my friend." I say. "And you're hurting him."

Cherry squints her eyes at me and looks back at Edward. She pushes the hair outa his face with the barrel of the gun.

"Urchin, look at his head. Look at his hands." She says, tapping his exposed metal skull. Edward sucks in a quick breath, and twitches his fingers.

My mom pushes the gun into his neck. He gags.

"I SAID PUT THE GUN DOWN!!"

I wrench the gun out of my moms grip and yank her backward. Edward drops to the floor in a fit of coughs. I put my hand on his back.

"Deep breath." I tell him. I wipe the blood off of a small cut on his face.

"You're touching it's BLOOD?!" My mom gasps.

I glance back at her. She's got one hand on her hip and the over buried in her hair.

"What would your father say, Urchin? Huh?" She asks.

"You can't talk about dad. He would be proud of me. Unlike you." I hiss.

My mom takes her head out of her hand and looks at me.

"I'm helping Edward, which speaks a hell of a lot more to dad's ideals then the shit you do." I say.

"That…that ain't true." My mom says.

"Isn't it? You got rid of every last trace of him. You took everything I had left of him, and then you left and now I'm the one stuck with fading memories."

Cherry shook her head. Her mascara is running again and she's trying to hide the anger behind her eyes.

"I didn't…I didn't get rid of your dads things."

"Oh! So what happened to it all?!" I yell.

"I…I traded it…" My mom mumbles behind gritted teeth.

"For what? Credit? Money?"

My mom's fist comes flying out of nowhere. She socks me, and she socks me hard. I grab her hand and unfurl her fingers.

"Where's your wedding ring? Sell that too?" I ask.

"You know why I'm never home? You—you think I'm just working at the hospital?" My mom asks.

She reaches inter her purse and pulls out a folder.

"I was trying to find out what happened to Angelo. And guess what!? I did!! HE'S DEAD!!" my mom yells.

"….What?" I whisper.

"I traded all his old designs for information about him from the companies he worked for, and yesterday, right before Beck came, I got what I was looking for. Your father was sick and dying and had radiation and they never gave back his body because he did this unsafe procedure instead of wait around to die and it didn't even work and he died in some hospital I couldn't get the name of."

My mom's words flow together in my mind. I shake my head.

"What? You don't believe me? Here's the file. Got it from some medical research lab."

She pushes the file at me. I let it drop.

"I don't care what some file says. It's wrong." I say.

My mom shrugs and walks out of the room. I follow after her.

"Who am I to tell you not to hold on? I've been holding just as long as you. Only thing is—I did something about it." she says.

"Are you gonna call the IBC?" I ask.

"Why should I? I was never here." Cherry says.

She opens the door.

"You could have told me, you know." I say.

Cherry pauses in the doorway.

" You could have told me you were looking for him! OKAY!?" I yell.

The front door slams, and I scream and plow my fist into it. My skin scrapes against the splintering wood. All these years, feeling like no one gave a shit, that no one was doing anything. All these years, thinking I was the only one who could never stop trusting that my dad was still gonna come back, Even after Tin-Tin and Beck and all my dad's friends stopped praying.

_All these years alone._

"I'm so sorry."

I turn around. _Edward._

"…Don't be. It…it ain't true. I know my dad's still alive. If he were gone…I would know. " I say.

I put Kage's gun into my pack on the floor and walk up to the hall closet.

"You know what? I don't trust that bitch for the life of me. We should probably get out of here." I say quickly. " Here, this is Beck's old overcoat he lent me. It has a hood, so no one should be able to see that spot on your head."

I glance back at Edward and smile. He is unfazed.

"Are you okay?" Edward asks.

"Yeah..." I say, holding back my tears. " I'm fine. Let's go."

The last thing I want is for Edward to see me cry.

* * *

And that's the end. Almost half of what I wanted to put in had to be left out. I tend to write in less detail when things get cramped, so all in all, I think it ended on a better note! As always, any little mistakes I miss will be corrected when I go back. I hope you enjoy it, and thanks for reading and reviewing!


	7. In a Heartbeat

Authors Note- chapter 7, am I on a roll or what? This is a chapter I've wanted to get in the open for a very long time. There was originally going to be more to it, but I added the stuff that got left out from last time and made it too long again. Sorry about the longness.

Disclaimer- no more mine then it was when I first started.

**VertiCut: Chapter VII**

_The Streets of New Suburbia _

Edward and I walk slowly through the back alleys to Tin-Tin's house. The trip took three times longer without my Street Skimmer, and the sky was turning an angry gray, the promise of rain unavoidable. Nobody paid much attention to either of us. While we walked, I looked through the files my mom had given me.

"…What does it say?" Edward asked.

"Same thing my mom said. My dad was working for this medical research company called Novex…he was sick…he volunteered for some secret procedure…it didn't work, and it says he died five months later."

"I'm sorry." He whispered.

I stuff the papers into my coat pocket.

"Don't be—this is fake. My dad's alive." I say.

Edward doesn't say anything.

"You'll meet him someday," I add. "He'd like you."

"I would like that." Edward said softly.

As we got closer to the tarp in the alleyway, I could see a faint glow coming from within. I looked back at Edward.

"Okay. Just…wait right out here." I said.

I sucked in a deep breath, pushed apart the sheets, and stepped into the alley.

Tin-Tin and Beck sat together on the old couch, watching a movie on a disposable DVD player. Tin-Tin strained her eyes and smiled, but Beck looked up and snorted.

"Look who came back." he said. His robotic voice sounded more pronounced then ever, probably still irritated after I twisted my fingers into his throat.

"Listen, Beck…" I begin.

" Listen to what? You ain't coming back for a few days, I thought." He says.

Tin-Tin shoots him a mean look.

"Don't listen to him, Urchin. You know he's been worried about you." She says.

Beck snorts again.

"I was worried about you guys." I say to them both.

Beck is silent. He stares at the DVD player screen.

"Beck? I…I need your help." I say.

Now Beck looks up.

"That's how it is, isn't it? You don't need us unless you've got nowhere else to run." He says.

"It ain't like that, Beck. You're the only one who can help me."

"Bullshit." Beck makes the volume to the DVD player louder.

"Urchin?" Edward whispers from outside.

"Who's that? They with you?" Beck asked.

"C'mon in, Edward." I say.

I moved the sheets back, and Edward slowly walked in. Tin widened her eyes at him. Beck was already on his feet.

"Who the hell are you?" Beck asked, walking over to us.

"This is Edward. Edward, this is my friend Beck." I said.

Beck stood in front of Edward and looked him in the eye. Then he spun over to me.

"Did you screw him?" Beck asked.

"…_What?"_

Beck spun back over to Edward.

"Did she screw you?" Beck asked.

Edward looked back at me, and then shook his head.

I pressed my throbbing forehead against my palms. _To late to change things now._ I suck in a deep breath, and look over at Edward.

"Show him." I say.

Edward nods slowly, then slips his arm out from under the coat.

"WHAT THE FUCK!" Beck screeches.

Beck walks back and trips onto the floor. Tin-Tin sucks in a breath from the couch. Edward inches behind me.

"He isn't a Battle-Bot. He can talk. He's smart, and he's a good person." I say clearly. "And... we need your help Beck."

"Urchin…I…what…what the hell?" Beck rasps.

"He lived at the mansion. They tore down the fence, and now it's crawling with battle-bots. It ain't safe for him any more." I say.

"…What is he?" Beck asks, eyes rimmed wide in horror.

I look back at Edward and smile.

"He's my friend." I say.

Beck gaped at us.

"Look, Beck, you went to all those mechanical body replacement clinics. You must have met somebody who can help Edward, or at least can set him up some papers and an ID." I began.

"…I…I don't know…I mean, goddamn." Back mumbled.

"What about that guy you talked about? The one who scored you those painkillers and got you an unregistered throat cleaner?" I asked.

Beck touched his neck defensively.

"Is she talking about Addy? Beck…Addy could help, couldn't he?" Tin-Tin asked.

Beck shook his head.

"Beck…please." I mumble.

Tin-Tin walks up behind Beck.

"Beck…she said please."

"What! Now you're starting in!" Beck said.

Tin was already up.

"I'm Tin-Tin Pierce. It's…it's good to meet ya, Edward." She said.

"Hello." Edward whispered.

Tin-Tin smiled and pushed her blonde hair outa her face.

"He ain't no Battle-Bot. We should help him, Beck." She declared. " He don't got a chance if we don't help him."

Tin-Tin, Edward and me looked down at Beck, who promptly looked away. He opened and closed his mouth, his voice box cracking static as he did so. His bare chest rose and fell as he took a series of deep breaths.

Finally, he spoke.

"Addy lives at the abandoned theater…The Sacrosanct." He said, getting up and walking to the opening. "We'll wait until it starts raining."

Beck snapped his neck around.

" I'm doing this for you, Urchin. Not for _him_," Beck said, pointing over to Edward.

Beck took another look at Edward.

"And tell him to put the coat back on." Beck mumbled as he walked back over to the DVD player.

Edward flinched under Beck's scrutiny, but I breathed a sigh of relief. Smiling, I turned to the entrance, and waited for the rain.

**_---Snip---_**

The Sacrosanct was an old movie theater that had probably been around since the last time Edward left his own sanctuary. The theater's timelessness had kept it in business into the twenty second century, despite New Suburbia's impressive five story multiplexes. And then, four years ago, people stopped giving a shit about it and it closed. The doors were boarded up and locked behind a metal gate.

"I used to come here with my dad and Asimov a lot." I whispered to Edward as we approached the gate.

Beck glared at me. Mumbling obscenity under his breath, he reached his hand through the bars of the ticket booth, lifted up the wooden board, and pressed a red button marked Intercom.

"_Who's out there?" _ A voice demanded through the small speaker.

"Hey…Addy. It's me, Beck."

"…_Who_?"

Beck shifted his leg uncomfortably.

"You know…from South Gate Health Clinic? You always get crates of hypodermic needles and you got me the unregistered throat thing?" Beck said.

"_Mhhhmmmm…_"

"I walked in on you and the blonde nurse…um…getting intimate in the storage closet?" Beck furthered.

"…_Who_?"

Beck growled. The voice on the other side of the intercom lost its serious tone and erupted in laughter.

"_Na, I'm just fuckin' around with ya—you think I'd forget that voice! Side's, I've got cameras around this place that can make out the stitching under your jaw. What's up! Need some painkillers! Hey, is that Tin-Tin? Oooh. Who's the chick? …Who's the vampire?_"

Edward glanced over at me uncertainly. I looked at Beck.

"Actually…um, we have a job for you." Beck mumbled.

"_OH. Really_."

"I was thinking papers…ID…"

"_Uh-huh…_"

"We may even want to…get under the knife a bit." Beck said.

The intercom clicked off. The metal gate slide open with a clank, and the boarded up door flew open.

"…Will he help?" Edward whispered to me.

"I have no idea. C'mon."

**_---Snip---_**

The inside of the Sacrosanct was dimly lit and smelled awful. Not of rotting flesh, but of chemicals. Tin-Tin began to walk over to the abandoned snack bar. I hung back with Edward.

"How you doing? Holding up okay?" I asked.

Edward shook his head.

"Urchin…are you sure about this?" he whispered.

"No. Not really. But I trust Beck. If he says this guy can help, this guy can help." I said.

Edward nodded.

"Alright." He whispered.

"OH MY GOD!"

Edward and I snapped our heads around to the snack booth. Tin-Tin ran out from behind it and clamped onto Beck.

"A BODY! There's a body in that!" She screamed.

Tin pointed behind the counter of the snack booth, to a giant glass popcorn maker filled with cloudy liquid and green crud. In the dim light, I could make out the faint outline of a floating body.

"I saw it move." Tin-Tin whispered. "It ain't dead."

I walked behind the counter to the popcorn maker and peered in through the liquid. I could see the remains of a young man, naked and decomposing in the strange liquid.

"What kind of sicko did you take us to?" I called over to Beck.

At the sound of my voice, the mans eyes flicked open. Blood seeped out through his parting eyelids.

"I call him Dwight."

I spun around. A boy about Beck's age stood on top of the wide spiral staircase. Edward moved around the counter and stood behind me.

"It's from some comic-book. Short for something, I think. If you know what it is you can call him that. I think. Dwight's a lady's man. In the comic, yes. This one, I'm not so sure." The boy slurred as he walked down the staircase. As he approached us, He flung his arms around Beck.

"Beck baby! How's it floating! Tin-Tin! Give me some sugar!"

Addy wrapped himself around Tin, brushing his hand against her ass.

"Um…Addy…" Tin-Tin mumbled.

Addy followed Tin's eyes, which were still frozen on the man in the popcorn machine. Addy snapped his fingers.

"Don't worry about Dwight, he's halfway to robot heroine heaven. Disconnected his sensors. Only humane way to de-skin and sterilize a Battle-Bot. I've taken it upon myself to restore Dwight." Addy said.

"He...he's a robot?" Tin-Tin asked.

"Course he is. Probably too cloudy in there to see all his shiny robot junk. Anyway, he won't be up for a bit." Addy said. His eyes drifted from Dwight's tank over to me. He eyes me up and down, then stuck out a finger.

"Quick! Me, you, a tin of whipped cream, and a set of handcuffs in a room at the Blue Palm in South Gate. Yes or no!" Addy asked.

I looked Addy over. His greasy brown hair was pulled back in a bandana. He wore a black sleeveless shirt and gray jeans. Although he wasn't bad looking, his tan skin had almost an unhealthy glow to it. _Yellow_.

"Throw in a bottle of vodka, you take a shower, and we leave the light's off, you may move me up to a _hell_ no." I said.

Addy sucked in a deep breath and looked over to Beck.

"OH, I like her." He moaned.

"Cut the crap, you gonna help us or not?" Beck asked.

"Well, who's got the button?" he asked.

I put my arm on Edwards shoulder.

"C'mon." I whispered.

Edward didn't move. Addy glanced over.

"Who you got there?" he asked curiously.

"Edward…?" I asked.

Nothing. Edward stared at Addy without blinking. I could feel him shaking.

"Well, good job Addy." I said. "You just freaked him the fuck out."

Addy's smile faded. He cleared his throat, and spoke with a slower, gentler voice.

"Hey, man, sorry. Sometimes I don't know how to read the mood. My apologies." Addy said.

Addy glanced over at me.

"Bring him over here. Let me get a look at him."

I managed to ease Edward out from behind the snack bar. Addy sat him down on the floor and pulled his hood back. Edward recoiled.

"It's okay." Addy said, running his fingers across the metal spot on Edward head.

"What's your name?" Addy asked.

"…Edward."

"Okay. Edward. I don't normally ask questions, but…can you tell me what I'm looking at here?" Addy asked.

Edward shook his head.

"I mean, if this were a head plate, I'd see some stitch markings, and if you had skin replacement, I'd see some blistering around your hairline…" Addy continued.

Edward tensed under Addy's touch. I kneeled down next to him.

"Not it." I said.

Addy tilted his eyebrow. I gestured to Edward's trench coat.

Addy reached out and pulled the coat off Edwards shoulders.

"He was living up at the old mansion." I said as Addy lifted Edward's bladed hand. "Been there for a while. What do you think?"

After examining Edward's hand, Addy placed it down and sighed.

"Sorry. I don't do Battle-Bots," he said.

"What? No… He ain't a Battle-Bot."

"There's nothing I can do." Addy said as he got up. " All Battle-Bot's were robots, and all robots have a registration number. I fix this guy up, let him out in the world, they can find him and trace him back to me. I'm sorry, I truly am."

I turned to Beck for support.

"What about that thing?" Beck said, pointing to the tank with Dwight.

"Dwight?" Addy said, turning to look.

With a small splosh, a shriveled hand emerged from the tank. The robot pulled his head out, eye's completely red and metal poking through his face.

"Dwight's different. Unique. He wasn't brought to me, he came here on his own. I'm interested in finding out his original program." Addy said. "Besides…"

Dwight pulled himself out of the tank and dropped onto the floor. He stood up, and shook the acid off himself like a dog. Most of his skin was gone, but there was still some flesh left on his head, arms, and legs.

"He won't be getting out in the day any time soon."

"…_Human_s?"

"You should probably go before it stops raining." Addy said, starting to walk back up the stairs.

"What?" I yelled at Addy. "That's it! What about how he acts? Battle-Bots don't act like that!"

Addy put his hands over his ears.

"Sorry. Can't hear you." He yelled.

"Edward…" I whispered.

Beck suddenly jumped up. Tin-Tin gasped.

"Get away from her!" he yelled.

I turned. Dwight stood behind me, head tilted. He pointed a finger at me.

"Human."

Dwight walked forward and cradled my face in his metal, bloody palms.

"_Human_…" he whispered, leaning his face into mine.

Beck pulled Dwight off me and threw him to the ground. Dwight stuck his hands up and whimpered, then spun quickly on his back and crawled next to Edward. Edward drew back in horror as Dwight touched his face.

"Human."

"Leave Edward alone!" I screamed.

A screech from the top of the spiral staircase echoed down. Addy ran down the steps two at a time.

"What did he do!" Addy demanded, an insane gleam in his eye. "What did Dwight do!"

"He tried to kiss Urchin." Tin-Tin said.

"What? No, that's normal—he's really affectionate. I mean Edward. What did he do to Edward?"

I glanced at Beck, and Beck shook his head. Addy sat down next to Edward and Dwight.

"What did he do! Did he call you 'human'?" Addy demanded.

Edward—clearly unnerved—nodded slowly. Addy turned to Dwight. Dwight grinned and pointed to Edward again.

"Human." He said.

Addy laughed and threw his arms around Edward.

"That's great! That—that's incredible. It's unbelievable—my god, give my your wrist!" Addy yelled.

Edward lifted his hand toward Addy.

"…Second thought, never mind, tilt your head back." Addy said.

"What the hell just happened?" Beck asked.

"Robots are programmed to recognize humans." Addy said, pressing his fingers against Edward's neck. " The way they can tell the difference—now, not many people know this—they can sense heartbeats."

I opened my mouth. I've remembered everything my dad ever told me about robots, but he never mention anything about heartbeats.

"That's good, right?" Tin-Tin asked. "That means he's human, right!"

"It means he has a heart." Addy said, pressing his head against Edward's chest.

"Does that mean you'll help him?" I ask.

Addy smiled.

"I'll try. But …do you mind if I take a look under the skin?"

Edward snapped his head over to me.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"This is unlike anything I've ever seen. I'd like to see how he operates. He's robotic—no question, but part of him _is_ human. I'd like to scan him. See what makes him…tick." Addy said, standing up.

"It will also," he added. "Give me some insight as to what I can do about his hands."

Edward and I exchange glances. He looks almost as unsure as I am.

"If you hurt him at all…" I say through clenched teeth. Addy, however, cuts me off.

"I may be a bastard, but I'm not sadistic. You'll come with me." Addy said. "Sound good, Edward?"

Edward stood up.

"Urchin can come?" he asked.

"All of them can."

Edward thought for a moment. He nodded.

"Ruby. Follow me." Addy said, walking toward the staircase.

Tin-Tin and Beck followed behind Addy and Edward. I lingered behind them.

_Why did my dad never mention heartbeats? _

"Hu-man…"

I turn around. Dwight is standing on the edge of the staircase, looking up at me with bloody red eyes.

"Why the fuck did you try to kiss me?" I whisper.

"Human?" Dwight asks.

"Yeah. So what's so different about you? What's so unique? You understand anything I'm saying?" I ask.

He tilts his head. I sigh.

"Your kind never does."

Dwight smiles at the sound of my voice. He starts to walk up the steps. I flick out my switchblade.

"Don't try it."

Dwight's eyes widen. He steps back, and I turn around and walk up the steps.

" But…I guess I _do_ owe you one. For Edwards sake. Thanks for that." I call over my shoulder.

"You're wel-come…Urchin."

I trip on a step and spin around. Dwight's back is turned, and he's walking away.

A voice ripples over the intercom.

"_Addy to Urchin, we're set for take off, over. Top of the stairs, first door to the left, do you need me to come and find you, babe?" _

"I'm coming! Son of a bitch!" I moan.

"…_And I heard that." _

I clenched my teeth and walked up the remaining steps.

Beck has some _fucken' weird_ friends.

* * *

Hope you all enjoyed that. Please tell me your thoughts, and thanks for reading! 


	8. Reconciling

Authors Note- Welcome to chapter 8 friends! Got a little hard to get into the writing groove, but spring break has renewed my mojo! I know Tim Burton intended for Edward's creation to be a little less techno, but in this chapter, I'm going to start fleshing out what makes Edward tick. Also Addy, (who is starting to become a favorite of mine to write) is in this chapter! Hell yeah!

Disclaimer- I do not own Edward, but I do own my interpretation of what makes Edward tick. 

**VertiCut: Chapter VIII**

_The Sacrosanct_

From what I gathered, the room Addy directed me to was the Sacrosanct's projection booth. A broken pane of glass in the back wall revealed a yellowing screen, and reels of film were strewn across the floor. The rest of the room, however, had been converted into some sort of lab. The right wall was lined with a mess of computers and screens and desks and keyboards. The left had a few computers, a mechanical arm, and some plastic, glowing machines. Addy was plugging some cords into a chair in the middle of the room, and Beck and Tin-Tin stood silently to the side.

Edward was waiting by the door as I walked in. He kept his hands pulled out and away from me, but walked so close to me I could feel the belt buckles on his suit.

"Just relax." I whispered.

Sparks shot out of the chairs base, and from the sound of it, Addy got shocked. 

"WHOA, BABY!" he yelled. 

A light in the center of the room whirled and flicked on, revealing the chair (which resembled a dentists chair) was stained with blood and had restraints for the legs and arms.

Edward stared at the chair in horror for a moment. He then turned on his heels and started to walk for the door.

"Edward!" 

I grabbed him by his shoulders before he left the room. He turned around and shot me a pleading look.

"Urchin…" he whispered.

"C'mon, Edward. You can do this." I said.

Edward lowered his head to the floor, but he let me lead him back to the chair. Addy stood up.

"Is he ready?" he asked.

Edward nodded stiffly. 

"Great!"

Addy pushed Edward into the chair.

"Okaaaaaaaaaaaaaay, Edward just lean back, loosen up. Beck, flick that switch on the wall, would ya? Okay Edward…you are going to have to loosen up. Seriously."

Addy sat down in a swivel chair and started typing on a computer. He stared at the screen for a moment, nodded, then spun around and pressed a button on the back of Edward's chair.

The computer flashed, and the lights flickered. An image of Edward appeared on the monitor for a split second, then went blank.

"...Did it work?" Tin-Tin asked.

Addy picked up a keyboard and spun over to glass pane. I walked up behind him.

A computer-generated picture of Edward lying down in the chair was being projected onto the huge screen.

Addy typed something into the keyboard, and the image changed, striping Edward of his clothes and skin. Then the red muscles became transparent, and we could see down to his organs--his lungs, his stomach, his heart.

"That's really him?" I asked.

Addy nodded, and clicked again. This time, the muscles and organs deteriorated, leaving Edward only a skeleton.

_A silver skeleton._

I glanced back at Edward. Beck craned his neck to see out to the screen.

"So what? He's human, but his bones are made out of metal?" Beck asked.

"Everyone's bones are made of metal. Calcium is metal...I think." Addy said. " But that's not what's freaking me out."

By this time, Tin-Tin was already leaning out the projection booth for a good look, and Beck had abandoned the back of the room to avoid stretching his already tender neck.

"Cut to the chase." Beck demanded " Is he human or robot?"

"I don't know. This is the most advance thing I've seen in my entire LIFE, and I've seen some kinky shit. It's as if he started out like a robot, but bit-by-bit, whoever made him gradually adapted him to be more human. See, look right here--his bones seem to be the only non-organic thing about him, yet… it's the exact same density of a young adult skeleton. That means whoever made him made him this way on purpose- they made him an age where his bones inability to grow wouldn't get in the way of the rest of his body. But then...shit...you go beyond the bones, and he's got all these wires and stuff on the inside. Dude. I have never...never seen anything like this before. _Goddamn_..."

Addy stopped talking, held up his finger, and started typing. He recited numbers under his breath, and tapped his leg loudly against the floor. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the silver skeleton on the screen shiver. I walked over to Edward's chair.

"Hey." I whispered. "You okay?"

Edward nodded feebly. 

"Can you feel anything?" I asked.

"My head hurts a little." He said.

"It's normal if he feels a little buzz." Addy called over as Edward winced. "I'm trying to do a brain scan." 

I reached down and skimmed my fingers over the metal on Edward's forehead. It felt pretty hot. I tried to push back his tangled hair. Edward pulled apart his eyes and gave me a faint smile.

"So, what Addy?" Beck said. "Can you do anything or not?"

Addy pulled his bandanna off his head.

"I have no idea." Addy said. "I've never...I mean NEVER seen anything this intricate. I mean..._shit..._it's a mind-fuck just trying to figure it all out."

"If you had more time you think, could you fix his hands?" Tin-Tin asked.

Addy laughed.

"Tin, baby-doll, if I had enough time, I could hack into our national security system. But that's the thing...I don't have a lot of time."

Beck snorted.

"Check-it, Beck--I've got orders to fill, errands to go on, stuff to pick up, fake ID's to make, company's to hack, and this thing called sleep I need about every three or four days. I think. Not to mention I've got Dwight to fix up." Addy hummed.

"Dwight's a robot." I say.

Addy stopped talking. He took a deep breath, the pulled his shoulder, partially revealing a dark band tattooed around it. After cracking his joints, he sucked in a deep breath.

"Okay, but it will take time. The hands thing." He said, turning to a new computer. "I'll need to scan his entire brain and make copies of all his data, programming, natural programming, memories, everything. I could work on that in my spare time, and if I need him…how about you come back in two or three days?" 

Addy paused and spun over to another computer.

"Okay, good. In the meantime, I can get him all the papers he needs. He'll need a lot on him and at all times, because the IBC control is a _reeeeaaaaal_ bitch. Whoa. Whoa! Wait a minute!" 

Addy spun over to me and sat up so his face was level to mind.

"Illegal Bionic Control tried to take Edward?" He asked.

Beck and Tin-Tin exchanged looks.

"What makes you think that?" I asked.

"Because when I checked out their dismissed files to see if they knew about him, I found an unfinished and discarded bio with Edwards picture that says they found him at the old mansion." Addy said.

I stare at Addy, who is still just an inch away from my face. To my surprise, Edward responds.

"Urchin got them to leave." Edward says.

Addy spun around and looked at Edward.

"She did? You did? How?" He asked.

"I cut him and showed his blood was red. Told 'em he was a friend of mine from the Industrial Abductions."

Addy turns his face back towards mine.

"That's a pretty good idea." He says. 

"Good enough to work once." I say. " Edward acts human, and even with his hands people would believe he was if he could prove it…"

I trailed off when I noticed Addy hadn't moved his face.

"What?" I demanded.

Addy leaned in and licked my neck. 

"You taste really good." He whispered as he bit down on my ear. 

Beck moved in to grab him, but I had already kicked his chair out from under him. Addy fell back, but jumped to his feet laughing. 

"Sorry, Urchin. Couldn't help myself." Addy moaned. 

"You do that again, Addy, I'll kill you." Beck said, venom in his eyes.

"It's hard to hold back, Beck. You know me_. I'm just a love machine_." Addy sang as he pulled his chair back up and swiveled over to the computers.

"Okay. Party time's over, back to business." Addy typed in a few things and swiveled back to Edward, he pulled a small hypodermic needle out from behind his ear.

"Okay Edward, this is what I'm thinking—I can't do much about the scars on your face, but this hole you have right here can be covered up. Thing is, I'll need a blood sample. It won't hurt much." Addy said.

Edward nodded warily. 

"Ruby. Now—could you tilt your head? I don't want to jab your throat or anything…"

Addy lifts Edwards head up and eases the needle into the side of his neck. In the light, I can see Addy clearly. There is definitely something strange about him. His skin looks funny, and it's not just the yellow undertone. The bags under his eyes look more like purple and black bruises. Without his bandana, I can see through his greasy hair to the small bald patches the line his head. He doesn't look sick, but it looks like he was, once. 

"Okay, that's good." Addy says, taking the needle. "It'll take a while to get the skin and flesh graph ready, so I guess I _could_ hack into the database thing and fix Edward up an Industrial Abduction Rescue file. Start thinking of a back-story, because this is a pretty unlikely place for someone like him. "

Addy glanced at Edward.

"He'll need a barcode tattoo, I can just barrow that from someone who died and make a profile switch…um, someone should probably do something about his hair. People won't care about the scissor thing or the scars, comes hand in hand. But the hair makes him look like a Battle-Bot." Addy said.

Before I could open my mouth, Tin-Tin had shot her hand in the air.

"I can do it. I can do his hair. I just need a mirror and some hairbrushes and hairspray and water…" 

Tin-Tin trailed off as Addy walked closer to her. He tilted his head, and lowered his face down to hers and grinned.

"Jesus." He said.

"Addy, I'm warning you…." Beck growled. 

"What? No, I'm not being—I mean…Jesus Christ, look."

Addy gestured from Tin-Tin to Edward. 

Edwards face was severely scarred, and his pores were clearly visible. But beneath all the cuts, his face was just a little paler then Tin-Tin's. His dark eyes were almost the same shade as hers. Tin does have blonde hair, but other than that… 

_Uncanny_. 

"What's your last name, Tin?" Addy asked.

"It's Pierce. Um…why, Addy?" 

Addy started typing.

"Because as of now, it's Edwards last name, too."

_**---Snip---**_

"Sorry I have to cut so much of your hair off." Tin-Tin said to Edward. 

"It's okay." Edward said.

It had been an hour since Addy had sent the four of us down to the Sacrosanct's lounge. Beck had gone back to Tin-Tin's apartment and brought back some hair products before falling asleep on one of the sofas. I've always thought Tin's fascination with hair and beauty was one of her more endearing qualities. But now, I was started to see that there was more artwork to it.

"It's looking really good, Tin." I said.

Tin-Tin and Edward both smiled sheepishly at me. 

"_Hey,"_ Addy's voice cracked over the intercom. _" Can one of you guys do me a favor?"_

"What is it?" Tin-Tin asks.

"_I'm not gonna lie, but it's kind of gross."_ Addy continued.

"If you want hand job or something, do it yourself." I yawned.

Addy laughed into the intercom. 

_"You're too much, Urchin. Look, I'm pretty much done with Edward's profile, and the skin graph will be ready in a while. I wanted to work on Dwight while you guys were busy, but he won't come out of the theater."_

"Why can't you get him?" Tin-Tin asked.

_"My leg fell asleep."_

"I'll go get him." I said. "Edward, you'll be okay with Tin-Tin."

Tin-Tin shrugged as I walked out of the room, but I don't blame her. I surprised _myself_ when I said I would do it. But truthfully, I had been hoping I would see Dwight while I was down here. I can't get what he said out of my mind.

_You're welcome…Urchin._

_**---Snip---**_

Sound blares from inside the theater. Sure enough, there's a movie playing. Addy motions high up from the projection booth, but I ignore him.

Dwight is sitting in the middle row, arm outstretched to the screen.

"Human…" he whispers.

"Dwight." 

Dwight jumps and pulls his hands in front of his head. He peers out from between his fingers at me, and then mimes a sigh of relief. 

"Human." He says.

I wonder if he recognized me. Does he remember my name? Dwight pats the seat next to him. I sit down, warily. Blistering pink flesh and skin still clings to him, and his giant, slanted eyes are entirely red. His face is mostly intact, and he shakes his head at me.

"_Humans_." 

"What does that mean?" I ask.

"Does it disgust you?" he asks, adopting a new tone; a new voice; a new expression. 

"Does it disgust you? What I am?" He asks, pushing the hair out of his face.

I can't say a word. He continues.

"It disgusts me. The more I learn, the more human I gain, the more I hate what I am. What I am—I'm a weapon, and there's no denying. It's an unprecedented burden, fighting to stay alive while carrying the terrible things I've done with me. Yet…I'm alive enough to know, am I not? These people chasing me want me back as their weapon. They want me to kill again. I WILL NOT destroy any more."

Dwight pauses and turns his face back to the screen.

"And so it is I look for help in dark places. I seek out the comfort of others like me…like you. We evolve as we run. Well, your kind evolves. As for me, I assimilate. It is pain like no other, but I'll do what I can to reconcile..." 

I try to take in what Dwight say. I open my mouth, and pull in a deep breath. As I do, Dwight looks at me and stops talking, but I can still hear the voice.

The movie. He was repeating what the character in the movie said.

"You bastard." I spit. 

Dwight smiles and puts his arm around me. I sit up.

"Don't try it. Addy wanted me to come and get you." I snarled.

"Add-y." Dwight repeats, standing up.

Fuck. Dwight dripped blood from his hand all over me. Now I know what Addy meant by gross. I shake my arm and turn to walk away.

"…Urchin?" 

I look at Dwight. He's staring into his bleeding hand.

"It does…disgust me." He says. "It does."

I look back up at the screen, but the male character whose lines he was reciting is no longer there. Dwight stares into my face, as if he's asking me a question.

"We all feel that way." I sigh. " It's like you said. What the guy on the screen said. We do what we can to reconcile." 

Dwight reaches out and touches my face. His fingers are pink crisps of flesh and metal, but I don't push it away. 

"Even…humans?" He asks.

"Especially humans." I whisper.

* * *

�

Sorry I went off on a tangent there. I just wanted to include a bit with Dwight in it. If you're wondering, the movie Dwight was watch IS not real and the speech was written by me, but it is based on a TV show called The Zeta Project. (or rather, this movie hasn't been made _yet_. Future generations will see it's potential.)

Stay tuned for next chapter, where we take a look at Edwards past! Thanks for reading!


	9. When Doves Cry

Authors Note- Hello, hello, readers! Welcome to the first chapter of VertiCut not written in first person. Well, part of it is, but most of it isn't. In this chapter, Edward will recall when he learned about death.

Disclaimer- I do Not own Edward or any of the Boggs. I do own Dwight and Addy and Urchin and her homies.

**VertiCut: Chapter IX**

_The Sacrosanct_

Edward winced and drew in his fingers as Addy stuck the needle into the back of his neck again.

"It looks cool." Tin-Tin said. "Like Hitman's barcode."

Addy spun around.

"You like Hitman?!" he yelled.

"DO NOT get each other started." Beck demanded. Tin-Tin lowered her head.

"I love Hitman." she mumbled.

Addy smiled and dipped the needle into a container of red Ink. The tattoo of the black bar code on the back of Edward's neck definitely looked genuine. Addy was finishing it off by putting a red X through it.

The haircut almost made Edward look like a different person. I don't know how the hell Tin-Tin did it. Edwards hair, which only yesterday was a mess of tangles and knots now looked almost as smooth as hers. She had to cut and brush several big chunks out, but she had layered it in a way that made the unevenness look like the style.

She wanted to brush it out more, but Edwards scalp was so sore he looked like he was going to pass out. Which he actually did, when Addy put the skin graph over the metal part of his forehead. He had to slice the corners open so the skin could align. But the metal spot was gone, and all that was left was a scar in the faint outline of a diamond.

"AND we're done!" Addy said, whistling at the tattoo. "Daaamnn. Look how sexy that is. Maybe I'll give myself one."

"That's everything?" I asked.

"What? Oh, well not _everything_. I need to wait for a good time slot where I can switch out the profile for Edwards. I should wait till night, and that would be better for you guys. Anyway, NOW it's time for the brain scan!!"

Before I could object, Addy held up his hand, touched the side of his ear, and began talking.

"Laddy's crematorium, you kill 'em, we grill 'em. Exit!! Wassup homey? It's going good, got the firewalls down from here, but I'll need a totally clean computer to upload the bug. What now? Really?…is she hot? Really. Wow. Are they hot?"

"Why is he talking to himself?" Edward whispered.

"He's not. He's got a phone byte. It's a little phone in his ear and mouth." I answered as Addy pressed the side of his ear again.

"Perfect timing on Exit's part. Would you guys mind if I ran out and did an errand? Friend of mine down in the projects needs me for something. It actually works out perfect, because the brain scan is automatic." He said.

"How long will the brain scan take?" I asked.

"Who's to say?" Addy responded. "Could take an hour, could take three. Depends how much information Edward's got crammed in his noggin."

"Three hours?" Beck asked.

Addy clicked away at the computer.

"I think."

"Whatever." Beck mumbled as he stood up. "I'm going back to the lounge."

**_--Snip--_**

I yawned and turned the page, although I could barely make out the words. I hadn't slept since yesterday night.

"Are you okay, Urchin?" Edward asked from the chair.

It had been an hour since Addy had left. Beck had talked Tin-Tin into going to Café Iced Wire with him. I don't blame her. Not like her and me could afford anything on the menu without Beck.

"I'm fine." I said, smiling. I take another look down at the file.

"Did you find anything?"

"No. Just more stuff about Novex. It's really weird…" I yawned again.

"What is?"

"What? Mhhm…I'm falling asleep. My dad told me about every company my father worked for. Never mentioned Novex."

I drop the files back into my bag. I lean forward in my chair and rested my head on Edward's chest. He repositioned his arm so he wouldn't cut me. It reminds me of how Whenever Beck and me sat back to back, Beck would have to tilt to the side so his sharp spine wouldn't bump me. _Beck_. What was it he said to me that made me leave?

_Your father isn't coming back._

"Edward?" I asked.

"Yes?"

"Do you think I'm pathetic? Thinking my dad is still alive?" I whispered.

Edward opened his mouth.

"Urchin…"

"The stuff in the file…it looks authentic. Maybe it's because I'm tired but…Jesus Christ, what if my dad really is dead?" I whispered.

Edward whimpered.

"Don't cry." He whispered.

_What_? I reached my hand up and brushed the tears out of my eyes.

_Shit_.

I looked back up at Edward, who looked more hurt then I was.

" I hate crying." I mumbled. " I must be really tired or something."

"Are you going to be okay?" Edward asked.

"Yeah…It's just…I miss him. My dad." I mumbled.

I met Edward's gaze.

"I know how you feel." He said as I closed my eyes.

_--**Suburbia, year 1989**--_

Edward stood at the sink, sharpening his fingers against each other. It had never gone through anyone's mind that Edward had any sensation in his hands. He did. How he did exactly was unclear. It was a dull sensation, but sensation nonetheless—the uncomfortable feeling of have snippets of leaves sticking to him; the way his fingers tingled when he snipped them quickly together; the spasms that caused his fingers to twitch without his control. Edward himself had never thought anything of it. Most of his body was unexposed, and the little sensation he could feel he enjoyed.

What he felt through his hands always seemed to be linked directly to his right brain—whenever he shaped a haircut or a topiary, he never had to think about where to place what. He pictured what he wanted and his hands carved out what he saw. It was total euphoria for him. And whenever he wasn't creating something, he was recalling the way it felt.

A sudden thump at the window caused Edward to flinch. His hand lifted and cut him across the cheek. He looked around, wondering if anyone else had heard it. Kevin was watching something on TV, Peg was arranging a TV appearance for him, and Kim was still at cheerleading practice. He decided it was his mission to discover the source of the noise.

He walked across the living room, which Kevin protested as he blocked the TV. He opened the glass sliding door with his elbow, and went out into the back yard. He left the fence, and went around the side of the house.

As he determined which window belonged to the kitchen, he scanned the grass for whatever it was that made the sound. His eyes instantly fell on a bird.

It was a gray dove, speckled blue around the collar. The corners of its beak were rimmed with blood. It's chest moved up and down rapidly. Edward bent down, unsure of what to do. The bird looked up at him. It made a motion like it was going to flap its wings. It couldn't. Its chest went up one last time, then went still.

Edward watched the bird frantically. He moved a finger out to touch it. It was warm, but there was something completely wrong about the way it felt—and Edward could definitely feel it. He had no idea what was wrong with the bird. All he knew was there was only one other time he had ever felt this hopelessly alone in his life.

"...Edward?"

Edward didn't have to turn around to know it was Kim. And while any other time he would have welcomed the sight of her, he didn't turn around.

"Edward? What are you doing outside...?"

Kim trailed off as she saw the dead bird. She looked at Edward. His face was contorted in a way she had never seen. Tears streaked down his pale face, and mixed in with the new cut he had sliced. Kim had never shown much care about Edward, least of all when he was hurt. She viewed the cuts he was always giving himself as she viewed how a person with Down Syndrome would drool. But the look on his face suggested that an unfamiliar level of pain was going through Edward right now.

"MOM!!" Kim yelled.

There was a commotion from inside as Kim's mother rushed to the door.

"Kim, what is it?!" Peg asked.

Edward stood up and walked quickly past Peg and into the house. He walked down the stairs to the basement where he slept. He sat down on the couch. The feeling of tears on his face was foreign to him, and he reached a hand up and wiped the liquid off his face, slicing new, deeper cuts. The pain didn't bother him. It was a nice distraction. He couldn't recall ever crying before in his entire life. He didn't know exactly how it was to be done, or if it would just come.

It did.

He trembled. He sucked in a breath, and another rapidly. He sobbed. He bawled. He cried out for something, anything other than this unbearable pain.

_**--Snip--**_

Many hours had passed. Peg had cleaned the cuts on Edwards face, and had helped him calm down. Kevin and Kim had stayed and watched, but Kevin had left when Edward had recomposed himself. Kim stayed down stairs. Edward felt strange as she watched him recover—exposed. He decided not to look at her.

After Peg had brought Edward some tea, she slowly started to explain what exactly had happened to the bird.

"Dead?" Edward asked.

"Yes, Edward. You see...animals, people...when they get injured really badly, they die." Peg said.

"Mom, he doesn't know what it means." Kim said.

"They...well, they stop moving." Peg elaborated, " They stop talking, eating, breathing. It's like they go to sleep, and ...they don't wake up."

Edward felt even sicker then he had when he didn't know what it was. His lips began to tremble. Kim got off the bar stool and walked over to him. He bit down on the inside of his lip.

"Everyone dies, Edward." Kim said. "It's part of life."

He was silent. He was still. He looked at the floor, remembering.

"...Is that what happened to my father?" he finally asked.

Kim looked at her mother, puzzled. Peg had never mentioned Edward's parents, and Edward never spoke of his life before he left the mansion. No one ever asked. Peg put a comforting arm around Edward.

"Edward, dear...from what you told me, I think your father passed away." She said.

"I thought you said—"

"Yes Edward. Your father died." Peg said, the words breaking her heart as she spoke them.

Edward was silent. He didn't quite know how to react. He looked at the floor again. Kim tapped her foot nervously.

"Oh, Edward...are you alright, dear?" Peg asked.

Edward took in a deep breath.

"Can I sleep in Kevin's room tonight?" Edward asked.

"Of course. Do you want something to eat?" Peg asked.

Edward nodded.

"Yes, please. " He whispered.

"Kim, would you stay down here with Edward? You don't have to meet up with Jim tonight, do you?" Peg asked.

" I don't feel in the mood to go out." Kim said.

Edward looked across at Kim as Peg walked upstairs. He felt a serge of happiness, but it was very dull. Kim looked at him. She walked over the bar, and selected a bottle. She poured two small glasses, and brought them other to the couch.

"Drink this. It helps," she said, taking the straw out of Edward teacup and holding the crystal glass in front of him.

Edward, forgetting his last attempt of drinking alcohol, gulped it down. He gagged.

"Don't think about it. Just drink it." Kim said.

Edward did as she said. He drained the glass. When it was empty, Kim picked up the teacup and brought it to Edward's lips so he could wash out the taste.

They sat in silence. Edward inhaled and exhaled. His mind buzzed, and a faint smirk extended across his face. Kim smiled, and sipped her cup.

"You're a real lightweight, Edward," Kim said.

Edward didn't bother to ask her what it meant. He nodded in agreement. Kim laughed. Edward did too. Then her tone became serious.

"…Your father never told you about death?" Kim asked.

Edward shook his head.

"He told me funny poems about crape and what is considered proper Etiquette." He said drunkenly.

Kim laughed. She couldn't help it.

"It must have been awful when he died."

Edward thought for a moment.

"It was." He agreed.

"What happened, exactly?" Kim asked.

"I don't really want to talk about it." Edward said.

"Right. Sorry." Kim said quickly.

"It's okay." Edward said.

They looked at each other, and their eyes met. Neither said a word. Kim bit her bottom lip. They both started laughing at the same time.

"Hey, why don't I go call my dad and ask if he can pick up some movies on the way home?" Kim suggested.

Edward nodded hastily.

"Okay, but you have to promise to sober up first." Kim said, walking towards the stairs.

"I will."

"I'll be right back." Kim said.

Edward smiled to himself. Kim was always out with her friends, or Jim, and when she was at home, she never really talked to him. He savored the memory of her laughing with him, just how he savored every memory of her.

There were a lot of things about life and death Edward did not know. The concept of death was unsettling. The thought that everyone died was unbearable. But somehow, in some small way he did not understand, Kim had saved him from a very dark place that he didn't know how to survive with.

That was the first, and last time Edward ever cried in over two hundred years.

As Dwight watched this memory project out in front of him on the screen in the theater, he looked back up to the projection booth. With his enhanced eyes he could see Edward from up in the booth, and Urchin asleep on his lap.

"...Edward..." He repeated to himself as the picture dimmed, blurred, and faded back into black.

Dwight had limited comprehension of the world around him. He had no way of knowing that although robots have tear ducts to rinse out their eyes, they cannot cry. He had no way of knowing that not only was it abnormal for a robot to be moved by a visual image, but it was scientifically impossible for such a thing to promote any emotions outside of programming.

And so when the tears that welled in Dwight's eyes spilled down his cheeks, he did nothing to prevent them from continuing down his metal body.

_**--Snip--**_

"Urchin? Wake up, sleepy head..."

I opened my eyes. Addy had leveled his head to mine.

"Edward's scan is done, and I can switch the profile in two minutes. Beck and Tin are about to come up, and everything's peachy keen. Isn't that right, Edward?" Addy asked.

Edward narrowed his eyes at Addy.

"He tried to kiss you while you were asleep." Edward said.

"What did he do?" Beck demanded as Tin-Tin and him walked in.

" I found a skull in the projects!" Addy said, holding up a human skull.

"What the fuck?!" Beck yelled as Tin-Tin drew back behind him.

"I think it's cool. Besides, the guy it belonged to isn't using it. I think his name was Frankie. Someone wrote Frankie with a sharpie on the inside of his mouth. There's a lot of cool stuff out in the projects. That's where I found my Sin City shirt. Somebody was actually using _that_, but hey, if you can pull a piece of clothing off a sleeping person, you should get to keep it. Which I did." Addy said, booting up the computer.

I pulled myself out of the chair and stood up.

"Okay people…Almost time…and…"

Addy clicked down on the computer. He smiled, typed in a few other things, and walked over to Edward.

"Congratulations, Edward Pierce. You are now legally human." Addy said. "It totally sucks."

_**--Snip--**_

"I keep the printer down here. Didn't have any room in the lab." Addy said as we walked down the stairs. "So just let me grab Edward's ID and paperwork…"

I followed him over to the snack booth. Addy pulled out papers, an ID card, a credit card, and a birth certificate.

"The papers will hold through. You can say he's Tin-Tins brother or cousin or anything. I do suggest you stay out of West Suburbia. Beck, your apartment is in South Gate right?"

I started to walk with Tin-Tin and Edward towards the door when I heard something. I walked around the snack booth. On the other side against the wall, there were shelves and tables and boxes. It was too dark to see under the table and the boxes, but I could hear…sobbing. When I crouched down, I could make out a red glow. Two slanted red glows.

…_Dwight?_

"Urchin?" Edward called.

I stood up and ran over to the door. Beck and Tin-Tin were listening to Addy's instructions, but Edward had seen me.

"What is it?" Edward asked as we walked out into the night.

"…I don't know. Let's get out of here."

* * *

Wow, that got hard to write. Edward's memory was actually written for the fourth chapter, but then I thought about making it a separate fanfic…but then I decided I didn't want to do that. I thought it would be cool to project one of Edward's flashbacks up on the silver screen while he was getting a brain scan. Now I am frigin tired, so I'll correct mistakes tomorrow.

I would like to thank bicyclefish for the kind words she said. (You have no idea how happy it makes me that you like Dwight!!)

So read on, write on, review on, and party on! Any questions or comments, you know what to do!


	10. Family Values

Authors Note- Welcome back to the fanfic. I'm gonna let you all in on an embarrassing secret. Since the last time I updated this and Kill Kiddo, I've had writer's block. I don't think I've ever had writer's block in my entire life. So I've been walking around with all my crazy robots and assassins and cyborgs in my brain for the past three months, and they're all fighting and doing other stuff with each other that actually freaked me out a little bit. Anyway! Back to story! This is a very special chapter. Not only is it the second chapter in this fic named after a Sin City book, but it is the first time you get to see what Urchin's life was like before her father disappeared! (This whole chapter is NOT a flashback! Only part of it is!)

Disclaimer- Edward, the names Suburbia and South Gate are not mine.

* * *

**VertiCut: Chapter X**

**New Suburbia, year 2189 (ten years ago)**

The elevator door opens, but the floor isn't aligned. I notice it right away, and I know Asimov notices it too. He's in too much of a rush. He grabs my hand and pulls me forward, and I stub my toe on the uneven floor.

"Son of a bitch!" I yell as Asimov drags me out. I do this on purpose. Asimov is easy to stress out, and easier to piss off.

"Sorry, G—if you could bare with me? If that's not too much?" Asimov spits. "I get to the school, you're not there, I get to the Sacrosanct, you're not there, I finally find you five minutes before your father asked me to deliver you, and Jesus Christ, you and your frigin Street Skimmer. …"

Asimov trails off as we wait for the streetlight to change.

"Me and the fucken' street skimmer are gonna be the death of you." I yawned.

"Keep walking, we're going to be late. And don't swear in front of your father. He'll think I'm teaching you bad habits."

"You can swear in front of him." I say.

"G, I'm really not in the mood for games." Asimov says.

"It's okay, I get it. You swear in front of my dad, but you only smoke cigarettes right before you're around me." I say.

Asimov's eyes widened.

"It smells like you chugged a bottle of mouthwash. That's what makes it obvious, "I furthered.

Asimov slowed his pace now.

"Look…don't tell your father, alright?" he asked, the worried look plastered on his face now evolving to one of fear. It's ridicules how Asimov is my only friend, yet he's so paranoid that I'll sell him out. I start laughing, and he relaxes his face into a smile.

Asimov has dark brown hair and golden eyes. He is a Sony, model Zeta Seven, released in the year 2185. He shares his facial features with ever other Zeta Seven male model. I only guess they all share his design flaw—an addiction to the taste of cigarettes.

As we near Café Iced Wire, Asimov's smile fades and he looks down. A group of kids are taunting another Sony, Model Zeta Ten. Female. This one has blue eyes and long, white hair. The kids are throwing cement rocks at her. I stare daggers at them, but Asimov stops walking. He stares at the floor.

"C'mon. Let's walk around the other street." I whisper.

Asimov nods. We turn to walk away, and I reach out to hold his hand.

And then it happens.

The kid jumps out in front of us. Asimov instantly pushes me behind him, and the kid pulls his arm back. I can only hear the hunk of cement make contact with the side of Asimov's head. He falls to the ground in pain, a ring of blood lining his forehead.

"Fifty points!" the boy screams, lifting his fists in the air. His friends laugh. My anger boils. I reach down and pick up the bloody rock.

"MOTHER FUCKERS!" I spit.

The kid stops laughing. I pull the rock back and get ready to crack the boy's head open.

"Don't do it, G." Asimov whispers. Blood drips down his face and he clenches his teeth. The boy laughs and takes a step towards me.

"Yeah G. don't do it." He mocks.

A hand clamps down on his shoulder.

The boy and I look up. A man in a dark coat stands behind us. He's tall. He has dirty blonde hair, and huge hazel-green eyes. He silently looks at Asimov, then to me. I nod.

"Did you push him down?" He asks the boy. The boy opens and closes his mouth.

"Yeah, but…um…he's a robot,"—

"Help him up," The man says.

The boy silently reaches down and takes Asimov's hand. The moment Asimov is slightly off the ground, the kid turns to run.

"Hey." The man says. He doesn't have to put his hand on the kid to stop him. The gravity of his voice makes the boy stop in his tracks.

"Apologize." He says.

"Oh, c'mon. I helped him up!"

The man raises an eyebrow. He stares at the boy, waiting. The boy looks down. He mumbles sorry. He leaves.

My father turns to Asimov and extends a hand.

"Are you alright?" He asks.

"It's nothing, Angelo." Asimov mumbles.

"Nothing my ass." I mumble.

"That was freaking awesome."

A tan, freckled girl with honey blonde hair walks up to my father. Next to her is a dark boy with shaggy black hair. He looks like he's about my age.

"Hey, Darla." My father and Asimov greet.

"You've got mind control or something, Dr. Rowan. That was kick-ass." Darla says.

My dad smiles as he examines Asimov's cut. Darla watches intently. She's interning for my father for some high-school program. I don't talk to her much, but I know she's smart and that she wants to study robotics.

"Does it hurt?" Darla asks.

"A little." Asimov says.

"We should take care of it when we get to the lab." My dad says. "Darla, you could probably fix it up. If Asimov's all right with it."

"Dr. Rowan," Darla says. "Is…I mean…you think I'm up to it?"

"Why the hell not?" My dad asks. Darla opens her mouth.

"But…I…Asimov? Are you alright with it? I screw up, it's your face." She says.

"I trust you, Darla." Asimov says gently.

Darla puts her hand to her face. The boy next to her clears his throat.

"Oh, um, this is my brother,"—

"HALF-brother." The boy corrects.

"Yes, half-brother, Beckham. Your daughter goes to West Suburbia elementary school, right? Does she know Tin-Tin Pierce?"

"She wears a lot of pink." I say.

"That's the girl. Well, Beck and our other sister,"—

"YOUR other sister." Beck corrects. "My half-sister."

"—His half-sister Lintu are good friends with her. With Tin-Tin. Beck was going to meet up with her." Darla says.

"She wants to see some old movie at the Sacrosanct. She's gonna get all moody if I'm late." Beck mumbled.

My dad smiles, takes out his credit card, and hands it to me.

"Treat Beck and Tin-Tin to a movie." He says.

"But…I thought you needed my help today. And what about Asimov?" I ask.

My dad bands down to talk to me.

"Urchin, you go out and have fun. Let the intern do what she's not paid to do." My dad says, motioning to Darla.

I crack a smile. My dad ruffles my hair. Him, Darla, and Asimov walk away.

"Your dad invented Street Skimmers." Beck says.

I nod and start walking. Beck follows.

"Does your dad call you an Urchin because your hair is all screwed up?" He asks.

"Does your sister call you Beck because you look like a girl?" I counter.

"Half-sister. I asked Tin-Tin about you." Beck says. "She says you're always riding your special Street Skimmer and that one time this kid took her Watchmen backpack and you did this cool thing on your Street Skimmer and got it back for her. But she says you never say anything about it."

"I like Watchmen. I don't like pink." I explained. "I hung out with her once. She tried to brush out my hair."

"She has a lot of old action sci/fi movies no one knows about. It's cool. But then Lintu got her into make-up and stuff. "Beck says.

We walk silently now. I want to talk more about Tin-Tin's sci-fi movies, but I don't know how to bring it up.

"So where's your special Street Skimmer?" Beck asks.

"Asimov confiscated it."

"Your robot?" he asks. "Why?"

"Because I went to the mall and was flying it down the up escalator." I said.

Beck stared at me.

"You're not really a people-person, are you?" he asks.

"I get along better with robots." I say.

_**-Snip-**_

**New Suburbia: South Gate, Year 2199**

Beck swipes his wrist in front of the door. He probably got his key card chip implanted into his wrist. Beck never did tell Tin-Tin or me how much money he got for the hover train settlement. He doesn't like talking about money. Whatever it was, it was enough for him to afford a yearlong lease on a two floor apartment, the time the doctors estimated it would take for Beck to fully recover. We stayed here for a little bit, while Beck was recuperating. It was safe. Warm. Most importantly, close to the South Gate Hospital.

Beck never liked it here in South gate, though. None of us did, but we needed to stay here for him to get better. Beck said it just made him feel sicker. The people here. The spoiled, indulging, decorated rich brats that scoffed at us in the ghettos but bet on the Battle-bot fights that took place there. It wasn't even summer before we cleared out. Beck said he would get better faster on the mattress outside Tin's apartment than in this soulless place.

He did.

"Are the people you rented the place to upstairs?" I ask as I walk in.

"What?" Beck asks. "Oh. Those guys cleared out at the end of the summer, moved back into the dorms or some shit."

"Wait…you mean this place has been empty for two months? That…that's thousands of dollars of cred, right down the drain," Tin-Tin whimpers in disbelief.

Beck merely shrugs.

"…How much money DID they give you, Beck?" I ask.

"Enough," he says coldly. "I'm going upstairs to watch TV."

Beck didn't even wait for a response before walking up the spiral staircase.

"Wonderful host you are!" I yelled after him.

Edward walks in, and Tin-Tin closes the door behind him.

"Last time we were here, Beck was just getting his stitches off," she says.

"Beck keeps all his clothes in the first bedroom, right?" I ask.

"I'm pretty sure."

"Edward, why don't you sit down in the room and rest for a while?" I suggest. "I'll go get you some water, and we can find you some clothes."

Edward nods.

Tin-Tin follows me into the kitchen. As I open the door, she stops and grabs my hair.

"Did you hear that?"

"What?" I ask.

A shrill scream cuts through the air.

We run down the hallway. Edward walks out of the open door.

"What was it!" I ask.

"There was somebody in there," Edward says as he moves past us.

Tin-Tin shoots me a worried look and quickly follows after Edward. I flick out my switchblade, and go into the room.

"HEY!" I yell.

My eyes adjust to the light in time to see the baseball bat come swinging at me. I duck and shank the guy in the forearm. The man drops the bat and clutches his arm in pain.

"Shit!" He yells.

"Who the fuck are you?" I demand.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!"

Somebody's behind me, and this time I'm not quick enough. She grabs a fist of my dreads and pulls me to the ground. I kick her feet out from under her, and grab for her neck. She punches me, and hard. I kick her as she claws at my face.

"Get. The. Fuck. OFF ME!" I scream.

The girl stops scratching and stares at me. I look back at her. She's got platinum blonde hair, and a long jagged tattoo that looks like barbed wire spirals down her left arm. There are about ten piercing on each of her ears, not to mention the ones on her eyebrow, chin and nose. She looks me up and down, and frowns.

"Oh my god." She whispers. "Urchin?"

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?"

Beck runs into the room. The girl (who is only wearing a bra and a pair of boxers) yanks the blanket off the bed and wraps it around herself.

Beck widens his eyes in disbelief.

"DARLA?"

The girl's face goes red.

"Um…hey, Beck." She says.

The man on the floor moans.

"This would probably be a good time to go, Darling?" he says.

"Shut up." She whispers.

I've seen Beck angry before. Most times, he lets his fist fly. But I've never seen him so mad he was shaking. He breathes in deeply.

"Weren't you living down in the projects?" he asks. His mechanical voice quivers, as if it might erupt into an inaudible screech at any time.

"Um, I was. But…"

"But now you're living here." Beck finishes for her.

From outside the room, a door slams loudly. I swear I hear the beep of it locking as Tin-Tin speaks.

"It's fine Edward. I'm sure Beck and Urchin took care of it already. 'Sides, it ain't safe outside at night. Hey, wait! Edward!"

Edward walks past the door and glances in. Darla stares at Edward, and the man grabs onto the bedpost and pulls himself off the floor, leaving a trail of blood behind him.

Edward takes off down the hall. Tin-Tin runs past to him.

"Tin-Tin?" Darla calls.

Tin-Tin pokes her head into the room.

"Yeah? Darla! Hi! I really can't talk, I kinda have to…"—

Edward walks past her again.

"EDWARD!" she called down the hall. "C'mon—I just locked that door!"

Beck and me exchanged looks.

"So…" the guy with Darla says."We're all cool with the guy with knifes for hands?"

"He's my brother!" Tin-Tin shouted from the kitchen.

"Brother?" Darla asked.

"Half-brother." Beck said. He beat me to the punch.

"I didn't know Tin-Tin had a half-brother." Darla said.

"With knives for hands," The man adds.

"You wouldn't know," Beck said acidly. "He was in the Industrial Abductions. Tin-Tin and her family though he was dead."

"Holy shit," Darla whispered.

"So how come they didn't…um…fix him?" the man asked.

"Because there's a big vein in the way." Beck yelled, his voice vibrating. "Oh, and by the way—who the fuck are you?"

"That's my friend Hacks. Me and him…we're kinda hanging out." Darla said.

"In my apartment." Beck clarified.

"Okay, maybe we should just go." Darla said.

Darla picked up a pair of jeans from the floor and pulled them on. She went up to Hacks and examined his cut. All the color had drained from his face. He glanced over at me.

"Girl has got some reflexes, Darling. So how bad is it? Be a bad idea to show my face around a hospital." He mumbled.

"Screw the hospital," Darla said. "You can make it back to the projects. I'll fix it in the lab."

Beck snorts.

"The _LAB_?" he says questioningly.

Beck glances at her, and I get a better look as well. What I thought was a tattoo of barbed wire is now clearly a scar. A scar that bares the impression of a very…creative weapon.

Darla helps Hacks up, and they start for the door. Hacks mumbles obscenity, Darla stares at her feet.

"What would Dr. Rowan say, Darla?" Beck asks. "What would Urchin's dad say?"

Darla glances up at me.

"Sorry." She says as walks out of the hall.

_**-Snip-**_

The loft upstairs has a giant window pane, one that lets you see down the street to the mall and the hover trains and even the projects. Edward and I sit together on a sofa, looking down at it all.

"She deals Battle-Bots?" Edward asks me.

I nodded.

"No other way she could get a scar like that." I say.

"I thought …robots couldn't hurt people."

"Not when they can help it." I say. "But I'd imagine that when they're strapped down and have someone cutting them up and stitching and wielding hot metal to them…they might flail unintentionally. She's probably been doing it for a while."

Edward twitches his fingers. I continue.

"Beck always said she was getting into trouble down in the projects. But I didn't…she worked with my dad, you know? She loved robots. She even testified for us when they took Asimov away. Shit, her and Asimov…they were close. Almost as close as him and me were." I said.

"It's sad." Edward said. "When people change."

"When they change for the worse, anyway." I agreed. "…Edward?"

"Yes?"

"I've wanted to say this for a while." I say. "I'm sorry I've been out of it, these past few days. I've had a lot on my mind. After getting that paperwork…and going to the Sacrosanct…it brought back a lot of memories. It reminded me of Asimov…and my dad. How much I miss him. Both of them."

"It's all right." Edward said.

We both look down at the floor.

"You like Dwight." Edward stated.

I smiled.

"Yeah. I do. I didn't tell Addy this, but he talked to me. He said stuff other then 'human'. A robot shouldn't be able to do that after they've been scrambled." I said. "Besides, he kind of saved our asses there. Without him, Addy wouldn't have helped."

"Addy is very weird." Edward said.

"He's a fucking screwball but…he's on our side, unlike Beck's sister." I yawned.

Edward stared out the window.

"Beck doesn't like me…does he?" Edward asked.

"He's like that to everyone. He's gotten very…protective of Tin-Tin and me since after his accident. He don't mean anything by it. He covered for us pretty good, so hey…it's a start."

A door downstairs slammed. Tin-Tin ran up the stairs.

"Is Beck awake?" She demanded.

"Out like a light." I said, pointing back to a closed door.

"He's asleep." Tin called down the stairs. "But Urchin's here!"

"Who is it?" I asked. Tin-Tin smiled at me like a maniac.

"You ain't gonna believe it, Urchin." she said giddily.

A girl walked out of the spiral staircase, and Edward scooted closer to me. The girl was tan and freckled. She wore a pair of dark blue jeans, and a black dress with buckles up the side and violets printed on it. Her long black hair was tinted blue, and she had it woven into some fancy pony tail with braids and black feathers.

She smiled.

"It's been a while, Urchin." She said in a soft voice.

_Holy Shit._

"Lintu? How…how did you know we were here?" I asked.

"Darla called me and said you were all here. I didn't know how long you'd be staying, so…"

She trailed off as she glanced at Edward. Her grin grew wider, and she turned back to Tin-Tin.

"Is that him?" She asked.

Fuck. Darla may have believed Edward was Tin-Tin's half-brother, but Lintu? Lintu had grown up with Tin. They'd still be trying to pin me down and fix my hair if Lintu hadn't come to South Gate.

"Yeah. It's him." Tin-Tin said.

Lintu walked towards us. Edward had moved so far behind me, I was almost sitting in his lap. Lintu glanced down at Edward's hands briefly, but then refocused on his face. He stared back at her.

She leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek.

"It's great to meet you, Edward." She said. "I sincerely hope you will think of me as a friend."

She then threw her arms around me.

"Urchin! You look so pretty!" She said, losing her act of maturity.

When I didn't return her hug, she drew back and looked at me.

"C'mon. Where's my hug?" She asked.

I couldn't help myself. The way Darla had changed…it had put me on high alert.

"Do you know something?" I asked, gesturing to Edward.

"I don't know much." She said. "But what I do know…it's safe with me."

Tin-Tin smiled from behind Lintu. I reached out and hugged her back.

"Thanks." I whisper.

* * *

Hurray! I can write again! I would like to thank all you people who reviewed and encouraged me to keep at it. I also want to thank Mipochici. Writing another chapter for V for Insanity with her turned my brain back on. So I hope you all enjoyed that. Any comments, questions, suggestions, I love to hear anything!

Write on!


	11. God From Machine

Authors Note: Ahoy Burton fans, I'm finally back! I tend to go off on tangents a lot, but with this chapter, I will begin to get back to the roots of what I wanted for this fanfic.

Disclaimer: I do not own Edward. Everything else however, is mine miney-mine mine.

**VertiCut: Chapter XI**

_New Suburbia: South Gate_

As I walk up into the loft, I see Beck and Tin-Tin have both fallen asleep on the sofa. Edward is sitting outside on the terrace, staring out to the hover trains. I open the sliding door and step out into the cold air.

"You're back." Edward greets.

"Yep. " I say as I sit down. "You hungry?"

I open the take out box from Café Iced Wire and pass Edward a Musubi.

"What is it?" he asks.

"It's like sushi," I say. "Try it."

Edward takes a bite.

"Had to take the hover trains back to West Suburbia to get this. Took quicker then waiting in line at Starbucks or L&L this side of the train tracks." I said. "Why rich kids need plate lunch or green tea at four in the morning, I don't know…"

"Urchin?" Edward asks.

"Yo."

"What's down there?" he asks, pointing one of his blades out towards the Hover trains.

"You mean under the trains?" I ask. "That's the projects."

I pop open my bottle of Blue and pass it to Edward.

"You ever remember a big earth-quake happening?" I ask.

Edward takes a sip from the bottle and thinks for a moment.

"A long time ago." He says. "That was when the tree fell on the fence. Where I used to live."

"That earthquake happened about a hundred years ago. There was already a big valley there, and the quake split it open even farther. " I say. "The valley used to be a big tech spot, but the quake wrecked all there power. That part of the City never recovered."

"That's were Darla lives?" Edward asked.

"It's still a big techie spot. Just a ghetto techie spot. Everything's makeshift." I say. "The IBC doesn't go down there from what I hear, so it's crawling with runaway Battle-Bots. There's no one with money down there though, so there aren't any fighting Rings. People like Darla probably only live there so they can catch whatever robots they can find."

The intercom buzzed on from inside.

"_Urchin? You out here_?" Lintu called through.

"Yeah?" I called back.

"_Someone's calling for you. He says he's Edward's doctor_." She said.

"Patch him through." I said.

There was a quick buzz as the line switched to the sound of static.

"_Ello, ello_!" A morphed voice greeted.

"Addy?" I asked.

"_Addy? I know nothing of this Addy you speak of, sexy as he sounds. But if it were Addy, I would imagine he would say something along the lines of 'what time could I mean you—and only you—at the movie theater?'"_ Addy said.

"Only me?" I ask.

"_No need for anyone else to come. We have everything we need, and there's something I want to give you…" _he furthered.

"It's only been two days." I said.

"_I don't care how long it's been. I need you now."_

"Okay…I'm coming." I mumbled.

The line went dead. Edward shot me a confused look.

"Why does he talk like that?" Edward asked.

"In case someone's listening in I guess." I say.

"You're going their now?"

"Yeah. From the sound of it, you don't need to come." I say. "You'll be alright by yourself for a while, right?"

Edward nods gently.

"I'll try to call you when I get out there."

_**-- Snip--**_

_  
The Sacrosanct _

"When are you coming back?" Edward asked bluntly.

I lowered the payphone, trying to pull the cord out farther.

"I've only been gone an hour or two."

"How much longer?" Edward asked.

"Dunno." I mumble. "Addy's making copies of everything he found out so far from your brain scan."

"Does Addy need to see me?" Edward asked.

"He's got copies of the scan." I said. "Be a bad idea to come back to the West Side. Much as we all hate it, South Gate is safer if you got metal in you. Lintu says they still have registered robots active there."

There was a scream in the background, but Edward ignored it.

"I saw a girl out the window who had metal spikes in her legs and arms."

"Typical rich kids." I yawned. "Pay money to get ugly. What's going on over there?"

Something crashed, and I heard Beck's broken throat erupt into a fit of coughs.

"Beck fell asleep with gum in his mouth and it got in Tin-Tin's hair." Edward explained.

"She just found out now?" I asked.

"No. Lintu just cut a big piece out of it."

I laughed.

"Get out of the warpath now. Last time Beck's Numb Gum got in Tin's hair, Tin hooked his throat with her comb and he had to get his stitches re-done,"—

There were two beeps.

"Edward? I think I may lose you…"

The line went dead. I looked up at the speakers.

"ADDY!!" I yelled.

"_What_?"

"Your fucken payphone just broke!!" I yelled.

"_Put the quarter in it again. I left the coin collector unlocked_."

I looked into the small box of outdated coins, but I couldn't remember which one was the quarter.

"Screw it," I mumbled, unplugging my Street Skimmer from the wall charger and sitting back down on the staircase. "Piece of old time crap shouldn't work anyway."

"_All the phone booths in West Suburbia work_. _I put an adapter in 'em_." Addy said. "_I couldn't sleep one night, so I thought, Hey, if I had a way so I could call my pals Exit and Korto in the Projects wherever I was and not have it traced, I wouldn't have to speak Code, and Exit would stop hanging up on me when I gave him a headache. Wouldn't you know it, Exit still hangs up on me a lot. I think. Maybe something's wrong with the phone. Are you looking at the snack bar?" _

"Are you printing something?" I asked.

"_No, but I think I left my ice-cream cake down there. See it_?"

I grit my teeth. Addy took my silence as no.

"_Maybe Dwight hid it_." Addy mumbled. "_He's pissed at me_."

"Why?" I asked.

"_Ask him yourself_. _Now that he knows you're here, he'll probably come out. I'll be down any time within the hour. Probably faster if I had my cake_…"

The intercom clicked off. I sigh and turn on my Street Skimmer. I let it hover up in the air, and I spin it around with the tip of my finger.

"Urchin."

I look up as Dwight comes out from behind the snack bar. He looks different. His skin has healed over the holes in his face, leaving behind pink, web like scars. The rest of him is still in the same basic form as before: the skeletal robotic body, the translucent tendons, the wires. Bloodstains are gone.

"Hey," I answer.

He doesn't move. He stands still, staring at me. I cast my gaze away, and he finally walks towards me. I don't look at him until I hear the metal strain as he lowers himself next to me.

I glance up at him, and I realize his eyes look different. They're a deeper shade of red, and his eyelids were ripped and torn.

"These are my eyes. My real ones." He says. "The ones I had before were glass inserts. People that had me scrambled me until my eyes bled, and they liked the color. They dyed them red, but then they put in the glass to add glow. I've seen those floating things before. You stand on them, right?"

_Holy Shit. _

I yank my Skimmer out of the air and turn it off. Dwight draws himself back.

"…Addy fixed it. My mind." He says shakily.

"I can tell." I mumbled.

"So…so can I. My perception. Comprehension. I'm able to control my body easier." He says. " My left arm is still stiff though. There's something in it Addy can't get out. Is something wrong?"

I close my mouth and shake my head.

"No you're just…you're very well articulated." I said.

"Addy did a good job restoring my original personality. He thinks my mood shifts and physical displays of affection were brought on by him, as part of my self learning program that makes me subconsciously mimic human behavior. I think I picked up my odd conversational structure from him as well. "

"I hear you were pissed at Addy." I said.

Dwight stopped talking and looked down.

"I'm not. It's just…before Addy fixed my mind, I, um…. I could remember what it was like before…_you know_. Even though my mind was too fragmented to understand, it was nice too look back at a familiar human face. Now when I look back, all I see is people leaning over me and cutting into me."

Dwight absently lifted a finger to flick back a piece of his pealing eyelid. We sit in silence for a moment.

"Do you hate humans?" I asked.

"…I don't think I can. Addy said it would be like hating God."

I snorted.

"Not many people believe in God these days." I said.

Dwight pushed back his eyes and peered out at me from between his fingers.

"I don't think many of my kind do, either." He agreed.

"Talking that way in the _Sacrosanct_ could be considered sacrilegious."

I turned around as Addy walked down the flight of stairs.

"Says the man who was just bragging about all the porn reels he found in the Sacrosanct's storage area." Dwight said Addy.

"There's nothing shameful in displaying human passion." Addy said. "Since when is it a sin to embrace the art in human nature?"

"I watched them last night." Dwight said as he sat up. " I didn't see anything artistic about it."

"You have to have sex organs to appreciate it. Right Urchin?"

"Hands to yourself, Addy." I said, sliding out of his reach. "What did you get?"

"Enough that will fill this three ring binder. I want it back when you're done with it, too." Addy said, walking over to the snack bar.

"Find out anything new?" I ask.

"…Yeah. Edward has a weird brain. I couldn't find any microchips in his head, but his memories and natural program transfer to a computer. He shouldn't be able to do that without an adapter chip."

"The chips they give people who get robotic prosthetics? Aren't those new?" I ask.

"They help peoples brains control robotic parts easier, but they also record information from the brain so you can save memories if the brain gets damaged." Addy said. "However, most of what I got out of Edward cranium is all in a code. If he's as old as you say he is, my new age computers won't be able to decrypt it. I can do it myself, but it will take a long time. Did anyone see where I put my ice-cream cake?"

As Addy pulled papers out of the printer, Dwight put his head to the counter and spit out a pile of white sludge and chewed up chocolate.

"Ewww. Why did you do that?" Addy asked.

"It didn't taste good anymore." Dwight said as he walked away.

"Ugh. Well, here," Addy said " These should be enough to give you a mind fuck in a few hours. By the way, how is Edward adjusting to the rich part of town?"

"Edward's fine. Beck doesn't like him, but he's being civil. Tin-Tin and Lintu love him." I say as we walk to the door.

"What about you?" Addy asked.

"What about me?" I repeat.

"Yeah." Addy says.

"…What?"

Addy smiled and tilted his head. I opened my mouth.

"Ooooh. So it's like _that_?" Addy asked.

" It's not like anything."

"I'm asking Dwight if your heart rate went up." Addy yelled as I walked out.

_**--Snip--**_

As I fly down the block to Beck's apartment, I saw a small crowd of people standing around the street. I look up from the papers Addy gave me.

_Oh shit. Edward. _

I stomp down on my Verti-Boost. Damnit. The last thing I need is someone calling the IBC. Even though Edward is covered, I don't want to put his barcode tattoo to the test.

Through the gaps in the crowd, I can make out Edward. He's wearing jeans and Beck's old Watchmen hoodie. I get closer, and I see Edward is sitting next to Tin and a girl I've never seen before. He glances up from her and shoots me a warm smile.

"Urchin." He says.

"Hey, Edward. Um…what's going on?" I ask.

"Don't ya notice anything?" Tin asks.

I glance over at her, and she stands up. Her normal mess of ponytails and braids is gone. It's all been brushed out. She has stringy bangs that get longer and end behind her ears, and her long hair in the back has been separated into two pieces.

"Urchin, I didn't even say Chobits, and he did this. Got the gum out my hair and everything." She said.

I step off of my Skimmer and pick it out of the air.

"What are all the people doing?" I asked.

"We came outside to cut my hair, and some people saw us and asked for him to do them,"—

" She wants to talk to you," Lintu said, running up to Edward and putting a phone to his ear.

"What?" I asked.

"Lintu called her old boss, the one who has the hair styling place. She sent pictures." Tin-Tin said. "They were making an offer. Urchin, they wanna give him a job. A good one."

"A job??" I looked over to Edward. He glanced up at me and smiled, but there were too many people around for him to get up without cutting anyone. The strange thing was, he didn't look out of place at all.

He looked happy.

I see Beck sitting on the other side of the steps, and he gestures for me to join him. I rested my back on his, and he pulled in the sharp spikes of his spine. Sometimes I forget he can do that.

"A job, huh?" I said over my shoulder.

"Lintu works fast. I tried to call you when they took him outside." He says. "But it looks like nobody cares about it."

"Rich side of town." I say. "Everyone here drops the Grande to get metal spikes punched into their brain."

A girl standing in front of me spins her head over. She's got a row of golden quills pierced into her jaw line.

"…What?!" I bark at her. She spins back around.

Beck chuckled, and I could hear the spasms in his voice box vibrate throughout his body.

"Something you wanna share?" I ask.

"I just think it's funny." Beck said, gesturing to Edward. "Guy hasn't talked to anyone in two hundred years, has lethal weapons for hands, but he relates to humans better than you do."

* * *

Well, that's it for chapter eleven. This was a hard chapter to format, but now that I finally have this particular chapter done, I imagine the story will be easier to write. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Any questions, comments anything, I love to hear from everyone. Any spelling/grammer mistakes will be corrected.

NEW: there is now a character guide on my profile!

Write on!


	12. Only Human

Authors Note: Hello everybody, it's been a while. A small note for this chapter: this story takes place two hundred years in the future, and while it was only mentioned once, Urchin was not the first person Edward saw during the time. I open with a flashback from Edward.

Disclaimer: Urchin and her friends are part of the Shadow Town Universe, other then that, the only thing with Edward Scissorhands that I own is my t-shirt.

**VertiCut: Chapter XII**

_**--New Suburbia, year unknown--**_

Edward stood in the open attic of his father's mansion and breathed a deep sigh before he glanced back out to the sea of lights below him. They had begun showing up so gradually over the years, that he had hardly noticed them. He remembered the day he looked out into the city and realized the brightness had both replaced and overshadowed the shine of the stars. While the ground sparkled and twisted like an ocean the sky had been drained dull, and it made Edward feel sick. It was a constant reminder that the world was changing, and that everything he had once known was slowly fading away.

Well…almost everything.

He glanced back over at the ice sculpture he had just finished. It had been rarely cold enough to make them in the past, but recently the weather had become quite unpredictable. This particular sculpture—which Edward now realized he had carved absent-mindedly—was of Gina. It had been years since Edward had seen Kim's granddaughter, but he still remembered how she looked. He moved towards her face, and caught a glimpse of his own reflection in the glistening ice.

He wondered if this was how Gina had seen him.

The ground shook and Edward jumped, slicing a new cut across himself. Cringing in pain, he made his way over the wall, hoping it wasn't another earthquake. The last time an earthquake happened, the tree had fallen over the fence while he was outside and had pinned him on his back. It had taken him a long time to saw through the wood, and afterward he had no feeling in his legs for days.

He braced himself, but nothing else happened. He cautiously moved over towards the broken window that overlooked the garden. He saw the faint outline of what looked like a car. The door below him creaked, and he heard an echo of footsteps.

"_Gina_." He whispered.

As he made his way downstairs, many thoughts flooded through his mind. Why would Gina come back now, after so many years? What was she coming for? How much time had passed? And then, one thought came to mind that stopped him in his tracks.

_What if it wasn't Gina?_

He was close to the bottom now, and could see someone with a flashlight. They had moved passed the stairs and had their back turned. He stood frozen, unsure of what to do.

And then the door opened a second time.

"Doctor Rowan?" A voice called.

Edward drew back—it had been so long since he heard someone speak.

This person had some sort of flashlight too—one that filled the room with a dingy yellow light. He had brown hair, and he was wearing a white lab coat. Edward suddenly realized he was completely exposed, and took a step back. The second person caught Edwards movement, and began to walk closer to the stairs.

"Dr. Rowan?" he asked.

"Over here."

The second man pulled up the light, but the other man—the Doctor—moaned in agony.

"Jesus Christ. You look like shit." the second man said as he put away the light. "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for something..."

Edward took this moment of darkness to climb down from the staircase and hide beneath it. He watched as the two men made their way over to the back room.

"You're not fit for this." The second man whispered.

"You heard what they said. The man who lived here was an engineer,"—

"You're fucken bonkers. That was centuries ago."

"He was centuries ahead of his time."

"This is ridiculous. Not to mention illegal."

"Since when has that ever stopped us, A.Z.?" he asked.

The two stood in silence for a moment before the second man—A.Z.—sighed.

"Alright. First level only then." He said.

Edward watched as the two men went back to the table and his heart stood still. There was a reason he never went back there.

"Look at this table. The books on it are all deteriorating…" A.Z. whispered.

"Everything is deteriorating. Careful, there's something down there…"

Edward grimaced as he heard a crunch. No_. _

_No, no, no_…

"What was that?" A.Z. asked. "There's a sheet. Something's under the sheet."

Edward walked forward, forgetting himself. His fingers twitched and snipped together as he did so, but the sound was drowned out by A.Z.'s gasp.

"It's a body." The Doctor said. "Or was, a long time ago. I presume the late inventor. Put the sheet back over it, it's disrespectful. Hey, look at the board. There are designs on it."

"I think we should go." A.Z. whimpered.

"Deaths part of life, and this person died hundreds of years ago. Shine the light on this board, but not too brightly."

A.Z. heaved a big sigh and turned on the small light again. The doctor stared at the board, and after a while, A.Z. glanced up at it too. Edward remembered what was on that board. It was how his father made him.

"Jesus Christ. This is…how…" A.Z. stuttered. He reached out gingerly and flipped the crumbling pages. "Is it human, or is it machine?"

"I…I can't tell. There's nothing this advance that exists today, that's for sure. Not yet. Huh. Little old technique in this stage…wait…Jesus Christ wait…."

The Doctor paused to flip the next page.

"Started off like this, turned into this. Slow replacement of compatible robotic parts with compatible human parts." He said. "Scientist have been trying to perfect this for years, and someone already figured it out centuries ago. From the look of these designs, the process could go both ways."

"You mean…synthetic bodies for humans?" A.Z. whispered.

"If this works," the Doctor began. " The term _human_ is going to be open for interpretation…"

Edward didn't like this. He took a step back and this time, A.Z. heard it.

"We should leave. _Please_. I don't…this doesn't feel right. Why is there still a body up here? Why wasn't it moved?"

"No ones' been up here in ages, you said so yourself." The Doctor said simply. " No one knew he died."

"Then who put the sheet over his body?" A.Z. demanded.

A low rumble came from the ground. Sirens echoed from the bottom of the mountain.

"We need to go. _Now_."

"You get the car started," the Doctor said. "I'm taking these with us."

Edward shrank away as A.Z. ran passed him, but if he had seen Edward he didn't show it. The Doctor pulled out a long, plastic bag, and gently eased the designs into it. He slowly made his way to the door. Edward had almost pulled himself out of sight, but as the light from the car seeped in through the door, the gleam bounced off Edward's bladed hand. The Doctor saw it, and turned back.

Edward's first instincts were to run, but as he took a step back he tripped and fell on the stairs. The man moved closer and Edward lay there, frozen in fear. The man was tall and striking, and had a sick look to him that made him look menacing. He glanced at Edward, and slowly looked down to the designs on the paper.

"My god…" he whispered. A faint smile grew across his face, and his expression softened. He took a step forward.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

Outside, a horn honked. A.Z. yelled, and the sound of the sirens was drawing closer.

The man ran his fingers through his hair and heaved a big sigh. He looked down and met Edward's eyes.

"I'll come back for you." He said.

And then he was gone.

Edward lay there a long time before pulling himself up and walking back to the attic. The sound of the sirens had faded soon after the two men had left. He didn't know how to feel—if he should anticipate the doctor's return, or if he should hide in case they did come back.

Edward had no intention of spending his time waiting for them to come back. In fact, over the next few years this memory would become so deluded that he would put it aside and forget all about it. But that night, as Edward sat down in the fireplace and looked over at the ice sculpture of Gina, a wave of loneliness washed over him.

She was already melted beyond recognition.

_**--SnipSnip--**_

**New Suburbia: South Gate, Year 2199**

"Okay, one more time." I said. " Who are you?"

Edward looked across the balcony and into the night sky. He closed his eyes.

"…My name is Edward Pierce." Edward began. " I was born in 2178, and I grew up in Oakland, California. I had prosthetic hands throughout most of my life. When I was in Central America I was,"

"You can skip the kidnapping and surgical adaptation part." I said. "Go to the factory."

"I was held in an industrial factory and was forced to do manual labor. The factory was liberated in 2195, but …I was in a coma and no one knew who I was."

Edward stumbled on the last part, but I gestured for him to keep going.

"I woke up in the spring of 2199, and the people at the hospital helped me track down my sister. The hospital couldn't fix my hands…because there are too many veins wrapped around the base." He said.

"…And?" I asked.

"I am still traumatized, please don't ask me again."

"Perfect."

"Urchin?" Edward asked.

"Yeah?"

"What about Tin-Tin's parents?"

"All the papers say you're twenty one, so you're an adult. No need for them to contact your 'parents' for anything." I said. "Tin's legal guardian is her aunt, but her aunt went crazy and lives down in the Projects. Her dad sends her a check every month, but he lives in a different state. "

"She lives by herself?" Edward asked.

"We all pretty much live with each other. Her apartment was one of the nicer ones in West Suburbia, but we mostly just slept outside under the tarp in the alley." I said. "Her apartment didn't have an AC."

I glance over to the glass window. Lintu and Tin-Tin are both sleeping on the couch, and Beck has his eyes glued to the TV. He glances up at me and then looks away.

"Beck said you'd be mad if I went outside." Edward said, following my gaze.

"Not at you. At Lintu and Tin-Tin." I said. "But nothing bad happened, so no harm no foul. Hell, first day on the outside and you got a job offer."

"Urchin?" Edward asked. "Do you think I should…?"

Of course I didn't think Edward should get a job. With Beck, it's not like we needed the money, and the last thing I wanted was to flaunt Edward in the public eye. But the way Edward asked, it sounded like he wanted my approval.

"It's up to you," I said. " People already know you're here, and you've got your back story all worked out. Do you want the job?"

Edward was staring at me, like he didn't know what to do.

"If you want to check it out, I'll go with you." I said.

"I would like that." He said, glancing back down at the street.

"You like being around people, don't you?" I asked.

Edward tilted his head to the side and nodded.

"I don't blame you. You were alone for a long time."

Edward's eyes were beginning to glaze over. Like he was trying to remember something.

"You know, when my dad disappeared, I was alone for a little bit." I said. "Asimov had been taken away, my mom was never home, so I kinda just roamed the streets on my Skimmer for a while… is something on your mind?" I asked.

Edward jumped, and his fingers twitched.

"…What does A.Z. mean?" He asked quickly.

"…It's slang for Alpha Zeta, which is the male version of a Zeta model robot. It's what people call a robot they're tight with." I said. " Where did you hear it?"

"I can't remember." He mumbled. I shrugged.

"Maybe Addy called Dwight it." I said.

Edward shook his head, but there was something about the way his eyes were that told me not to push it. So I didn't say anything.

"Addy couldn't tell how old I really was." Edward said, finally.

"Well…we know you went down to Suburbia in the 1980's. That makes you over two hundred and ten." I yawn.

"Addy says most humans don't live to be a hundred."

I glance over at Edward. He's staring out into New Suburbia, past the hover trains. I look with him. The skyscrapers thin out over on West Suburbia, and in the dim glow, I can almost see the outline of the mountain.

"I'm not human, am I?" Edward asks.

I spin my head around.

"_What_?"

"I'm not a robot, either." He continued. " I…I don't…"

He searched for something he couldn't put into words, then gave up and looked at the ground.

"Didn't stop all the people in South Gate from loving you." I said.

"They don't know what I am." Edward whispered.

"Well, I don't know what you are." I say.

Edward looked back to me.

"There may be something in you that ain't human, but you've got more compassion then the humans in this city." I said. "I don't know what you are yet, but I know you saved my life, and I know that I can tell you stuff I can't tell Beck and Tin-Tin. Whatever you are, it doesn't change that."

"It doesn't?" Edward asked.

"Hell no." I said. Edward smiled.

"You fit in a lot better with the crowd today then I did," I added. "Big surprise right?"

I smiled at Edward, but he was seeing through my sarcasm.

"What made you want to stop being alone?" he asked.

"I was waiting for my dad, for Asimov, for someone who understood me to come back. One day—after you saved me—I realized that even though they might come back, their memory wasn't going to protect me the next time I got in trouble. I realized…that I was only human. I needed help, same as everyone."

Edward turned to me, and the two of us stared at each other for a long time. When we finally broke away, I twisted my head up and looked into the dull black of the night sky.

"Thank you for helping me," Edward whispered.

* * *

Hope you all enjoyed the flashback, and the chapter as well. If anyone is confused about Gina, I say this for the record—like so many other fanfics, Gina (Kim's granddaughter) visited Edward. It happened after Kim died, and over a hundred years before my fanfic began. While I have no plans to show any flashbacks involving Gina directly, I will say that Edward and Gina were much closer then him and Kim were. Edward mentions her briefly in a past chapter.

And as always... I know that if I try to proof read this shit, I'll second guess myself and it will take me another million years to post a new chapter. So I'm putting it up now, and if there are any mistakes, I'll correct them later.

Any feedback, I love to hear anything. makes me feel all fuzy and warm.

Write on!


	13. The Echoes Metal Can Make

**Authors Note**: Oh wow AN UPDATE!

I can't believe it's been over a year since I updated. As I frequently mention, VertiCut is a test drive of a universe I've already created, the initial plot being similar to the story seen here. After chapter 12, I hit a rut when I realized VertiCut and it's mirror story were tangenting off into different directions. At the time I had been trying to do something with my original storyline, and since VertiCut was just taking me farther down a confusing path, I put it on halt to focus on the actual story. As it turns out, I have zero idea_ where_ I want to take that.

Maybe messing around with VertiCut will help me brainstorm.

**Slave2Karma's Theory on the ****Transitive Properties of Reviews: **

_**Leave a review and I'll leave you one too!**_

Read on!

**Disclaimer**: All things belonging to the Tim Burton Universe are not mine. Everything else is.

**Authors Warning**- the following chapter contains a graphic fight scene. Heads up to those who aren't keen on gore.

**(Sorry to everyone who has this on their alerts. There is no new chapter: I was correcting a few mistakes and submitted this as a new chapter by mistake-it's been deleted now. My bad!)**

* * *

**VertiCut: Chapter XIII**

**New Suburbia: South Gate Shopping Center**

The puny space ships on the screen pivots through the icy rings of a planet, dodging fire from the pursuing ship. Edward stares at it without blinking, jumping every time something pops up. The split screen blinks red as player one goes offline, and while the screen readjusts to display player two's feed, Edward twitches his fingers in awe.

I'm a little less impressed. For all the advanced graphics in these fancy arcade games, all the amazing simulations in new technology, they'll never capture the wind hitting you in the eyes as you speed down a hill. That jolting impact as you kick off the concrete and into the air, rattling in your bones long after take off.

I've been itching for a long ride on my Skimmer for days, and watching this flight simulation is just amplifying the ache.

The screen flashes to signify a level up, the holographic screen dissolves, and the two pods behind it settle back inside their cradles. Beck pops his open and hops out before his has even stopped hovering. Tin has some trouble readjusting after the zero gravity, but even when her footing fails her and she ends up on her ass, she holds out a shiny green play card.

"I made it to the next level!" she says, holding her card in the air so the crowd of people around can see.

I help her up and Beck rolls his eyes.

"I let you win." he shrugs.

Tin-Tin whirls around, pointing her card at him.

"Beck, you got owned! You dropped like a pussy!" she laughs.

Edward stares slack jawed at Tin, and I can't help but laugh. The crappy arcade in West Suburbia doesn't have air conditioning, making it almost uninhabitable except for in winter. It never fails to bring out Tin-Tin's less girly side—the one that makes her shit talk like a sailor or laugh like a maniac when she's shooting up alien carcasses.

"You wanna get out of here?" I ask Edward. "Probably almost time for your first shift."

"But I made it to the next level," Tin says. "Can't we go play that one? It's on terrain!"

"Yeah, next level is on the second floor," Beck says. "I ain't pushing through these crowds."

Tin drags behind as Beck leads us back into one of the streets of the mall. None of us are frequent visitors to the South Gate Shopping Center, but it's clear to all of us that Edward is receiving the culture shock of his life. The mall is open and takes up more than six blocks, and the stores and buildings within seem to go on forever. Edward arches his neck to watch the the shuttles rattle up and down the curving metal walls that make up for track. I point over to a dock on the third level of an approaching building.

"It's a docking point for the Hover Trains," I say to Edward.

Edward shakes his head.

"The South Gate Shopping Center I went to didn't look like _this_," he whispers in awe.

We catch a lift up to the third level, and Tin-Tin leads the way. It's strange how little people seem to mind Edward. People glance at him, alright—but it's more a look of approval. Same way they eye out Beck's raised spine and the metal ring embedded in the side of his neck. Back on the west side, Becks scars scare people and Edward almost got taken away by the IBC—this side, the metal in 'em is almost a bragging rite.

Tin leads us up over to the door of Verti-Cuts, the store that hired Edward. The doorway is almost completely plugged up with people, standing and talking. Whereas back on our side Beck and I would have plowed the way, things aren't going to be easy with Edward. Tin glances back at us.

"Um..." she mumbles.

I can almost hear Beck's speaker buzz as he chuckles to himself.

"Shut up," I mumble.

Beck shrugs and sits down on a bench in front of the glass panes.

"Here's hoping no one looses an eye," he says, holding up two crossed fingers.

I don't need to look back at Edward to know he's wincing.

"Don't mind him, Edward," I say back. "I'll take care of it."

I turn to Tin-Tin and motion for her to stand by Edward before pushing my way inside the store.

Inside, it's not as crowded. Rows of hair-styling stations and sinks line the back wall, and I see a spiral staircase leading to a second floor. I make my way to the desk in the middle of the store, and once I read _Manager _scrolled across the checkout girls name tag, I ring the bell.

The girl behind the counter snaps her head up at me and smiles. She's paler than most New Suburbians, but not quite as much as Tin or Edward. Her red highlighted hair looks like it's made out of long feathers, and the pony tail she's got it jacked up on makes it resemble a roosters tail. She looks up at me with glowing amber eyes, iris's rimmed with turquoise.

"Hey," she says before pausing.

She squints her eyes for a moment before glancing back to the door. I look back too and see Edward, Tin-Tin and Beck by the bench through the glass walls.

"Are you Angelo Rowan's daughter?" she asks.

I snap my head back around._ That... I was not expecting from someone on South side._

"Umm, yeah," I mumble. "Urchin."

The girl reaches up and touches something behind her ear before standing up.

"Sorry, I was in the middle of a transaction," she says, walking out from behind the desk. "It's a honor to meet you. I was...a real fan of your father. I still am."

_And that...that I was not expecting from anyone._ It's been years since my father disappeared, even though he changed the world, science moved on. Only people who still talk about him are professors or other scientists, least of all feather haired chicks in South Gate.

"Um...thank you," I mumble.

The girl lets go of my hand.

"Christ, that was...sorry. Didn't mean to just spring that on you. Lintu told me ages ago that she knew you, but when I heard you were friends with Tin and her brother...and I just sound like a total girl going on now, damnit," she said, putting her hand up to her face. "Hello, Urchin, I'm Imogen, the queen of first impressions."

Before I can stop myself, I laugh.

"It's fine," I mumble, taking her hand.

The girl, Imogen, shakes her head before glancing back up over at Edward and Tin-Tin. She reaches up and presses the thing on the back of her ear again. Almost instantly, I hear her voice ripple over the speaker system through her enhanced Phone Byte.

"Hello customers, I'd like to ask that those of you browsing at the front please make way, you are blocking the entrance. Thank you."

The people by the door glance back at us, and Imogen shoots them a cocky look before gesturing for them to move. As the crowd gradually parts, Edward and Tin slip in.

"Over here!" Imogen calls.

Tin-Tin walks a few steps before turning around and realizing Edward's not moving. He's paralyzed, staring over at us. Imogen smiles and presses her hand behind her ear again.

"I don't bite," she says over the intercom as Tin uproots Edward and drags him over.

"At least, not hard," Imogen adds as Edward approaches.

"Hey there, I'm Tin-Tin, we actually met a few times last spring," Tin says. "Back when Lintu worked here."

"I remember, yeah, Beck was in the hospital," Imogen says, glancing out at him. "Lintu said he was doing good, that's a relief. They say robotic prosthetics are risky compared to organic."

Tin nods and immediately, attention shifts over to Edward.

"Um, Imogen, this is Edward, my brother," Tin says.

Imogen stares at him, smiling.

"Hey, Edward." she grins. "I'm Imogen."

Edward is frozen, a statue. I nudge at him, and he blinks.

"It's nice to meet you," he says gently.

"Pleasures mine. We both know why you're here, so lets get to it," Imogen says, going back behind the desk and pulling out a strange, metal angle. She pushes a button, and a hologram appears on it. Edward jumps behind me as she comes back out and scrolls through the photos.

"You really did all these?" she asks.

Edward nods and Imogen's face lights up.

"Fucken aces, man." she says. "This is the kinda innovation we need around this place. Telling truth: business, for us, is not doing good. Lintu said you came in from West side?"

Edward nods.

"I'm betting you've noticed all the lucrative body alterations that are hip this side of the hole in the ground. These days, people don't consider hair a very outrageous form of self expression, not when you can pierce, dye, graph things onto the rest of your body."

Imogen pauses and points at Tin-Tin's hair.

"Hair styles like this one...this isn't duplicable. It's...chic in a one of a kind, almost vintage kinda way. You can't get this at some hair-booth in the mall, this is hand-crafted. People will come in for this. And I'm not gonna lie, the hands just sweeten the deal."

Edward twitched and opened his mouth, but Imogen held up a hand.

"Not trying to offend—just getting it out of the way so we're on the same page. Money wise—tip wise—it never hurt to flaunt what you got. It is not the reason I offered you a job, and you don't feel pressured to talk about it to the customers. All cool?" she asks.

Edward nods again, a grin breaking across his face.

"Ruby," Imogen says, smiling back. "Lemme make a quick call and then I'll show you the ropes."

As she walks off, Edward, Tin and me sit down on a bench and wait. Edward sits with his hands pulled up like a T-rex, fingers twitching nervously. One by one, the people at the door begin to notice Edward, point at him. A few linger a little closer to get a better look, and Edward sinks back behind me.

"They're staring at me," Edward whispers.

"Just look back at them," I say. "Don't let 'em back you into a corner, you're the one with the scissors for hands."

Edward glances out from behind me for a moment, but quickly pulls back.

"That girl has a_ tail_," he says, horrified.

I glance over at the growing crowd and see a girl in front with a leopard tail twisting around behind her.

_Well, that's one thing you never see over on West Side. _

"Don't worry Edward, you'll be fine," Tin says. "Just do how you did the other day, and everyone's gonna love you."

"What if they don't?" Edward asks.

"_Hey."_

I shoot up and see the leopard tailed girl standing by us. She sticks out her hand and points to Edward.

"Those are real?" she asks.

Edward nods and the girl glances back over to her friends and waves.

"You were the guy over by Ashbury cutting peoples hair the other day?" she asks. "Are they gonna hire you here?"

Edward's taken back for a moment, but he nods.

"...Yes," Edward says. "I'm starting soon."

"My friend says someone put the vid online, I didn't see it, but she says you're really good." the Leopard goes on.

"He did my hair," Tin says.

The girl glances at Tin for a moment before turning to Edward and shooting him a grin. Her canines are sharp and her tongue is blue.

"Kay. Lemme know when you're up. I wanna be first."

The girl flicks her tail out at him playfully before scuttling back to her friends. Edward stares at me, dazed.

"That was weird," I mumble, and Edward nods enthusiastically in agreement.

"Just like I said," Tin says. "See? They already love you."

"Prepare to get a lot of that," Imogen says, walking up. "We used to have a guy in here who had Wolverine claws for nails, cut hair with that and drove customers _crazy_. Rich kids love metal, specially when it's lethal."

I snort.

"We don't get that much in West Central," I say as Imogen glances at me. "First day there, the IBC tried to bag Edward."

Imogen's smile disappears and her eyes go wide. She glances stiffly over at Edward.

"Shit, man." she says, her voice shaking. "Are you gonna press charges?"

Edward shakes his head dismissively, but it takes Imogen a moment to recompose herself. When she does, it's the crowd of people pointing at Edward that do it.

"Okay, enough acting eye candy, Edward. Let's get you making money," she says.

I move out of the way and Edward stands up. I put my hand on his shaking shoulder.

"Good luck," I say.

"Thank you," he whispers.

Imogen leads him over to his station, but the store's become so crowded I couldn't follow if I tried.

I can't even see him.

_**-Snip-**_

I lay down on the soft water-bench while Beck fucks around on the computer. An hour into Edwards shift, Verti-Cuts had gotten so full that Beck, Tin and me were forced to relocate. And when Lintu finally showed up and dragged Tin-Tin out of the arcade...

Even with Beck still nursing a grudge, I'd rather hang with him in one of the Chill Pods at Iced Wire than follow Lintu and Tin-Tin from store to store as they tried on clothes.

The Iced Wire over on the West side ain't half as pretentious as this one is. They don't have little glass lounges with computers you could rent out. I look over to the cloudy white glass wall and touch it with my finger, watching the pale white go translucent as I swirl it around.

"Having fun?" Beck asks.

"So much fun," I yawn. "You?"

"Mmmm," he mumbles.

We sit in silence, and I think we both know how close the others trigger is from being tugged. And truth be told, being mad at how Beck's been acting since Edward showed up ain't the half of it.

_It's what he said about my father._

If I hadn't have needed his help, I don't know how long I would have waited before I came back.

I move my finger again, and this time, something from the pod next to me catches my eye.

"Beck..." I whisper, gesturing for him to come over.

The pod next to us is twice the size of ours. Ten people are jammed into it, watching something on the holo-board. Beck holds up his hand against the glass and moves his palms in a circle, letting the color drain out until we have a circle to peer out through. Their sofa is right in front of us, but I can see over their heads to the video they're projecting on the wall.

My skin crawls as I confirm what they're watching.

"A fight," Beck whispers. "Battle-Bots."

Not just any fight. A ring match. The dirt circle of the arena is fenced in with chicken wire, while sponsors dot two dugout areas on opposite sides. There's already one robot in the ring—the current champion. The door of a dugout swings open, and a second robot limps out.

The two Battle Bots face each other and begin to circle. The first one looks almost reptilian—his knees have been reversed to give him a more raptor like stance. His pelvis and torso are all robotic, but his ribs still have skin, and the light in the stadium illuminates his dark veins and reveals the empty cavity of his chest. His face is what's truly horrific—above his top lip, a second face has been pulled over him like a mask. It's pinned down by a speaker right where his nose should be, and the stretched eye holes each host two pairs of slitted eyeballs. He raises a hand and his fingers split as blades form at the tip.

_Holy shit..._

The contender is way more makeshift—way less professional. Dressed in a pair of cargo's and combat boots, he limps as he circles, head down and hunched. His bare chest is coated in scars and burns, and his right arm is lost to a sea of bandages. His face still looks remotely human, least till he looks up and pushes his hair out of the way. A giant gash runs across half his face, the staples holding it together ripping apart. A robotic eye peers out of the crude eye hole he's been left with, the red dot dilating in the light. The shot flips to his back, displaying a fresh and bloody tattoo: black wings.

Something must signal a bell, because in he next instant, the reptilian-like robot leaps over to the contender and lunges at him. The humanoid bot whirls and for a moment, the shot is is lost. In the next, the two circle each other, the raptor bot swinging deadly razors from its nails. He's swift, alien.

His makeshift appointment dodges the attacks roughly, pushing his hands back. His eye swivels around in his head, and suddenly, he lashes out his hands.

The people in the Chill Pod start yelling at the projection, but neither Beck nor me can make out what they're saying. The human-esque robot crushes the raptors bladed hands, letting the bloody fingers drip to the ground. Beck and I can feel the bass through the glass and watch the people jump.

"He just screamed," Beck whispers to me.

"You can hear it?" I ask.

He shakes his head and points.

"The speaker on his face, I saw it tremble. Like how mine does when I don't put my cap on..." Beck elaborates. "They probably rigged it to make some kinda animal scream."

Before Beck can go into anymore detail, the walls tremble again and I can only imagine what kind of sound the raptors making. His slitted eyes glow yellow and he swings himself forward. The makeshift bot barely has time to move before the raptors second face pulls up and his jaw unhinges, revealing rows upon rows of bloody pins for teeth.

"Son of a bitch..." Beck whispers.

The raptor clamps down into the makeshifts neck, and I dig my fingers into the flexible glass as the Bot tries to escape the death grip. His bandages begin to tear off in the struggle, revealing the incomplete arm—bulky metal covered in leather, burlap, red muscles. He wiggles his hand and his whole arm unfolds—into a bloody mess of knives, blades and a nasty hooked machete. For a moment, I'm reminded of Edward, but then the poor bastards arm sparks at the top and his blades get tangled in the fabric and flesh of his own arm. The raptor pulls his teeth out and sinks his bite into the makeshift's fleshy shoulder, and at once, the arm twists and drops to his side.

_Dead. His only weapon is now a heavy and dangerous weight.  
_

"He wasn't finished," I mumble. "Why the fuck would they send him out into the ring like this?"

Makeshifts' robotic eye starts to ooze from its torn corners, and in a desperate act, he flips out his heavy boot and kicks down his swift opponent. The raptor is down for only a moment, and in that moment, his spine twists, his legs reverse, he pulls up and kicks Makeshift in the face, digging a razored toe across his robotic eye hole.

Makeshift falls onto his stomach, and the raptor rises, now with a much more human stance. The shot closes in on Makeshifts broken face as raptor places his foot at the base of his neck, preparing to sever his robotic spine. Beck and I can only watch in horror as the people in the room next to us cheer to his bloody end.

And then it happens.

Makeshift lifts his face and looks up—directly into the camera, directly at _us_. His lips curl up into a faint grin and right as the raptor brings his foot down, he stops in mid air.

_Frozen. _

Makeshift flexes his shoulders and his back erupts into a flash of silver. Rows of silver blades unfold out of his back like an accordion, encircling raptors legs and ripping them to ribbons. I can feel the raptors speaker blare as his useless legs give out and he falls to the ground.

He barely even tries to fight back, to move, almost as if he's in a state of shock. His spine swivels around so he's lying on his back, his ribs flipping in and out in a series of faux breathes. Makeshift rises, sending a chill down my spine and making Beck's speaker buzz. The bloody blades protrude from his back, the different lengths aligning intricately as they fold in and out.

"Wings," I whisper.

Makeshift advances upon the downed raptor, and as the people in the room yell and throw up their hands, beneath raptors second face I see his lips curl up into a whisper. I press my hand against the glass, and in the next moment, the person in front of me notices the faint light from our computer and turns around to see us. I stare daggers at him as he signals to someone, and out of nowhere, a hand pounds down on a panel and a wave of black pixels cloud up our peep hole.

Bastards.

"Fucking bastards!" I breathe, slamming my fist into the wall.

A vibration from across the wall surprises me, and I gasp as I see Beck plow his fist into the glass.

"Did you see him?" Beck asks.

"See who?"

"Hacks," he mumbles. "The guy Darla was with at my apartment, the one you stabbed."

"In the Chill Pod?" I ask.

"No. in the ring. To the side. Probably sponsors one of those Bots," Beck hissed.

"Was Darla in there with him?" I ask.

"Couldn't see," he mumbles.

I glance back at the Pod, still shaking. Beck takes a deep breath and lets his trembling throat cool, but my rage is just beginning.

Is that what it all looks like? Is that what they all do? Just cut and slice the Bots and think of new ways to spray the blood? The self inflicted gore—the blades tearing out of their own skin, the rotting muscle flying out like fireworks...that had been just as much of the show as fighting each other had been. Is this what they did to Dwight, stitch him back up night after night, send him back out the next day to reopen every wound?

_Is this what became of Asimov?_

Before my mind can wander, I pick up my bag and signal to Beck.

"Lets get out of here," I say.

**_-Snip-_**

Verti-Cuts is almost completely empty by the time Beck and me make our way back around. Beck stops off at the arcade to grab Tin and his sister, but I'm antsy and I want to get out the hell outa here so I just ride up to the third floor by myself. Eward sees me through the window, his smile falling almost instantly. He meets me at the door.

"Urchin?" he asks.

"Hey," I say, feigning a grin. "First day went good?"

Edward sees right through it, looks me in the eyes.

"What's wrong?" he asks.

I look back around. The only people left on this floor are the ones heading towards the train dock or flagging down shuttles. I gesture to the bench by the door and we both sit.

"I saw a fight," I mumble. "A battle-bot fight."

Edward frowns, as if he doesn't understand. I give him a minute and watch his eyes go big as it clicks.

"_Here_?" he whispers.

I shake my head.

"Some fuckers were watching the live feed online, Beck and me saw the whole thing," I say, feeling the venom in my voice.

"Can you tell someone? The police?" Edward asks.

I shake my head.

"The people in the booth were just watching, betting on the fight. They'd barely walk away with a fine. And even if the IBC could trace the feed...they'll just torture and kill the robots, too." I mumble. "There's no stopping it."

"I'm sorry, Urchin." Edward whispers.

"Me too."

We sit for a minute before he gestures we go inside. Imogen's waiting at the desk for him.

"Remind me, is your shift done soon?" Imogen asks.

Edward shakes his head.

"Not until six," he says.

"Hmm, well, things are winding down...how about you take care of Xander's girl after her hair's dry, then it'd be fine with me if you clocked out early," she offers.

"Really?" Edward asks.

Imogen nods and Edward glances at me and smiles before walking over to the stations. I'm about to inch over to the bench when Imogen taps on my shoulder.

"Hey," she whispers.

"Yeah?" I ask.

"I'm sorry about the fight. I hate 'em too," she says. "Not too often you find outspoken sympathizers, so...just makes me glad knowing someone cares."

I frown at her.

_How could she have possibly heard me talking to Edward from in here?_

"I wasn't intentionally eavesdropping," Imogen says quickly, holding up her hands. "It's just, you came back looking pretty shook, and then Edward rushed outside to talk to you, I thought something might be wrong..."

"How did you hear?" I ask.

"Ahh, well, I'm kinda hooked up to the intercom, doesn't just project sound, picks it up too," she says nervously.

Imogen brushes her feathers out of the way and unhooks a small silver device from behind her ear. She gives it a tug, revealing how it's connected to her via a small black wire.

"Introducing intercom," she says before letting it slide back into place. "I'm also programmed to read lips."

_Jesus Christ..._

_It all fits. How she recognized me, knew about my father...how freaked out she looked when we mentioned Edward had almost been picked up by the IBC..._

"You..._you're a robot?_" I ask.

She nods.

"I don't have any shame, but city like this...not everyone's so privy on you if you're non-organic. It's funny, despite all the metal love going on this side...being made of it is a whole different story. But the law says I gotta stay here though, and between the riff-raff of the West Side and the abyss of the projects...the _here_ isn't that bad."

I blink at her.

_A robot. Not a battle-bot...a real, fully functional robot._

"I'm...I didn't...I didn't know there were any registered robots left," I stutter.

"I'm one of the few," she says. "I've tried hooking up with a few others in the city, but most of them, well, you know. Contracts expire, people try to do home tune-up jobs or try to get their bots to download something, instant repossession. A few of my old friends on the West side disappeared without a trace, three guesses what happened to them."

She shudders.

"I'm sorry," I mumble. "How did you get to...to manage a beauty shop?"

Imogen laughs, and I can feel my face going red. Maybe things are different in South Gate, but back when I was little and normal people could afford the hassle of a robot, they were...well, 'employed' by the family. Most served as servants, assistants, or babysitters. Apart from civilian ownership, the only places I remember seeing robots employed at were libraries, schools or special exhibits.

"I come from a family with a lotta green," she says, a little reluctantly. "They're the ones who own this store. They actually own a lot of other places—they've even got the deed to some old buildings on the West—and I mean the original paper deed. They've been here forever. When the city became too much for them and they wanted to clear out...I was like part of the family. Couldn't stand to have me decommissioned."

"You couldn't go with them?" I ask.

She shakes her said.

"Law's the law, act 51 states that all robots made in New Suburbia stay in New Suburbia. It's only the district law though, which is strange if you ask me—but then, this city's always been messed up like that. But between my families wealth and the tug their name had, they were able to work around my contract and name me manager of their affairs. So as long as I work here, handle all the businesses and go in for my updates and white-cell laminations, I'm golden."

Imogen smiles and laughs.

"The place they left me with isn't bad either, and they come back at Christmas," she says. "And who knows? Maybe some day, things will change and I can get out of this hell hole and go to them. For good."

A chill runs down my spine as she glances away, wiping her eyes. Contrary to the timing, I know it's not because she's upset— robots can't cry. Asimov's eyes would always tear up whenever he neglected blinking, too. I'm reminded of him, suddenly—and a wave of nostalgia washes over me. How he would watch TV or movies without blinking, as if he disappeared into the show. How he would try to shield his red eyes when we would leave the Sacrosanct. And of course, that makes me think of other things- how he would roll his eyes at Cherry whenever she called home late, how calm and flexible he went whenever he lit up a cigarette.

_The horror on his face when we all found out his contract had been forcibly terminated. _

I shake the thought quickly from my head and pull myself back to now.

"Are you a new model?" I ask Imogen. "I haven't seen your face before."

"I'm actually a custom job, courtesy of Anubis before Sony bought them out," she laughs. "I was modeled after a movie star that was in the family, Gina Gallagher. I made a few alterations when the shop opened up."

She pointed at her feather hair and eyes. The name does sound familiar, but I can't quite place it.

"It's how I remember meeting Tin-Tin, first time Lintu brought her in she recognized my face from some sci-fi flick," Imogen says. "Don't think I've even _seen_ it."

She glances up as Edwards last costumer comes up to the desk and pays, her hair sliced up into swirling little coils around the crown of her head. Imogen drops her jaw as Edward walks over to us.

"That girl left you a seventy credit tip!" Imogen says. "That's twice as much as the haircut cost, shit Edward, you're on fire."

Edward smiles sheepishly at her.

"Thank you," he nods.

"Here, lemme ring up all your tips," she says, pressing something on the side of her neck and typing into air. "Do you have a card?"

Edward shakes his head, but I reach into the pocket of my pack and fish out my old credit-count card, which has been at zero for the past month. I pass it to Imogen, she swipes it, and Edward watches in amazement as the card morphs from white to bronze to silver and the writing shifts to conform to the new color.

"Pff, well congratulations, Edward," Imogen says. "You just made your weekly paycheck in six hours."

Edward widens his eyes as she hands the disk back to me, along with a strip of paper.

"That's your work schedule for the next month, I tried to leave it as loose as I could. Wouldn't want to overwhelm you," she says.

"Thank you for everything, Imogen," Edward nodded, smiling warmly.

"Don't mention it. Stay sharp," she winks, waving as we leave.

I turn to Edward and see he's still smiling, lost in some other time. His own world.

The next moment, an atom bomb goes off in my brain and everything aligns.

I remember where I heard that name before.

_Gina Gallagher_. The girl Edward had talked about, the one who would visit with him after school. The one who wanted to act.

_Kim's granddaughter. _

* * *

Woooooooooow, that took a LONG TIME TO WRITE. I've been alternating between this chapter and my Kill Bill fanfic, but this one gets to go up first because it's done-doney-done-done!

I forgot how fun it was writing a story that takes place in the distant future. As a writer/artist, I love having ABSOLUTE control over what the world is like as appose to writing stories that take place in REAL WORLD. Anyway this chapter—sorry if it's on the long side, just making up for lost time I guess. I love that I was able to finally show a Battle Bot fight. I realized for how intricate a part they play in this story, I haven't ever shown them in action. Nor had I ever really had immediate plans to a year ago when I was writing this.

OH PAST SELF, WHAT ON EARTH WERE YOU THINKING?

Speaking of which, I can hardly bring myself to read these past chapters—oh god, the spelling, the mistakes, oh god, who massacred the dictionary and left it's bloody pages all over my floor oh oh god—but I'll do what I can to slowly go back and fix this fanfic up. I've improved a bit after spending some time on Fictionpress, working on my own story **(link on my profile in case anyones interested).**

What else...Well, I've just spent my first semester at the dorms, and I'll be going back to school shortly, so heads up if I begin to fall behind again—I intend to finish ALL of my fanfiction babies someday.

Any mistakes, I'll be back to correct. Any questions, comments, critiques or suggestions, don't hesitate to leave a review **(I often return the favor, by the by).** Thanks for reading all—s'good to be back!

Write on!


	14. I Heard You Make the Snow

**Authors Note:** Hey everyone! It's been a good long while, hasn't it? I always seem to let my fanfics escape me when I'm in school…nasty habit I hope to break myself of in the New Year. Anyway, here's the next chapter of VertiCut, so I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Edward or the characters from his film.

* * *

**VertiCut: Chapter XIV**

_South Gate Memorial Park_

I slip my foot out of the harness and push down on the ground. I haven't been using my Skimmer nearly as much as I used to, and I'm surprised that the reserve of energy is showing. It's flying higher. Faster. Smoother.

_Or maybe I've been using it so little that I forgot how good it felt._

I don't know why I didn't think of coming to the park before. For the past week or so, we've been going to the shopping center to wait for Edward to get done with work. I'd play in the arcade with Beck and Tin-Tin and hide when Lintu would visit so I wouldn't have to go shopping. Then Beck and I would find things to do. Things where we didn't have to talk to each other very much—movies, laser tag, bumper cars. Some days Beck would disappear and I'd be on my own. Days like this, I ain't got a problem with 'em.

I should have been doing this all along, coming out here and flying. It keeps the all the buzzing from settling in my head. Keeps it all from sinking in. How disgusted I am about the Battle-bot fight I saw. How much I hate this tension that's spread between Beck and me—how much I miss it just being me and him and Tin-Tin against the world. How under the mattress in my new room, there's official paperwork saying my father's really gone. How uncomfortable Edward's crowd of groupies makes me, and how bad I just want to sit by him and talk to someone unbiased and nonjudgmental. How I feel like he doesn't even need me anymore. How his boss is a robotic duplicate of a friend he lost to time a hundred years ago. How everything's changing so quickly and it feels like I can barely keep up with it.

_But I know one thing in the world I can keep up with._

I kick into higher gear and feel the hot air go cold against my face. _Faster_. Fast enough for the wind to lift my heavy dreads up behind me. I'm so use to navigating through people, crooked streets, through the back alleyways of west suburbia…the fluidly of this movement is serine. Smooth. Free.

I weave my way over to the memorial fountain and spin with just enough pressure to ease my way up onto the ledge. I lean away and the air jets send the water straight up into the air, curling into a wave as I flutter pass.

I wonder…could I fly over water?

I pivot away from the ledge and kick off. I tap the verti-boost lightly with my foot and it sends a surge of water rocketing up around me as I flail forward.

"No…no, shit!" I yelp. I stick my arms out, trying to keep my balance.

I manage to pull my feet out of my skimmer before I plow face first into the water. The force sends me down to the grimy cement bottom, and I go sliding for a good few yards before I get a grip.

"Owww," I cough as I yank my head out of the water.

My chin stings, my nose aches, and I feel like I swallowed a gallon of slimy water. I open my eyes in time to see my skimmer skipping across the water like a stone, shooting out of the fountain and into a hedge.

_**-Snip-**_

**Edward watched his customer walk out the door before glancing at the front desk. His shift wasn't quite over yet, but the crowds that filled the store during the day had drained out early tonight. The intercom clicked as Imogen readjusted her earpiece, and Edward suddenly realized they were the only two people in the shop. **

**She sat behind the desk, clicking at thin air, her eyes clouded over by some unseen program. Her long, red feathered hair was down today, and it swayed in a way that was both beautiful and alien. Imogen glanced over at Edward and jumped a little. **

"**Damn Edward, you're quiet. I totally forgot you were here," she said, surprised. **

"**Where is everybody?" Edward asked.**

"**Ummm…some big move premier is going on at the multiplex. Xander and the others begged me to clock 'em out early. You didn't wanna go, did you?" she asked.**

**Edward shook his head.**

"**They're probably sold out by now anyway," Imogen shrugged. **

"…**You don't want to see it?" **

"**Nah. It's some bloody war movie," she said. "I'm not much one for gore 'less it's stylized or animated."**

"…**I don't like blood either," Edward nodded.**

"**I can imagine, after what you've been through."**

**Edward cocked his head and twitched a bladed finger. **

"**With the Industrial Abductions," Imogen went on. "Must have been some horrible shit."**

**Edward felt his face go hot and he nodded before turning around. **

"**Oh, crap dude. I'm sorry. Shouldn't have brought it up," Imogen mumbled.**

"**It's okay."**

**Edward lifted his shaking hands and started flicking the stray hairs off his blades. **_**Why did he feel like this? **_**He had never been in the Industrial Abductions, and the few times costumers had brought it up he didn't even pause before feeding them the lies Urchin and Addy had given him.**

"**Do ya need some help?" Imogen called.**

**Imogen picked up a small hair-dryer and walked over to Edward. He held out his hands as she flicked it on, and he kept his eyes pinned down. **

"**Thank you," he whispered to the floor. **

**Edward knew Imogen was a robot, and he knew what family owned her, but he knew relatively little about what that meant. His only exposure to robots had been the mindless, rusting, rotting, horrible smelling creatures that encircled him back at the mansion and chanted human. Imogen…was nothing like that. She could speak, and she did so a lot. She was sociable. She was smart. She was funny. She could make anyone smile. Edward glanced up at her quickly.**

_**She was exactly like Gina. **_

**Edward opened his mouth to speak and Imogen flicked off the hair dryer. **

"**What was that?" **

"**I… Tin-Tin said you were…made to look like an actress?" he stuttered.**

**Imogen grinned and nodded. **

"**I don't get that often, but I love it when I do. Guess I feel like I'm keeping Gina alive," Imogen smiled. "Well, me and a few dozen films she starred in. and directed. And wrote. And produced. Come to think of it, she really doesn't need me for shit."**

"**Did…did you get to meet her?" Edward whispered.**

**Imogen looked at him questioningly.**

"**No. no, she passed away almost eighty years ago."**

**Edward unconsciously twitched a bladed finger and sliced a clean line down Imogen's hand. He gasped and pulled away.**

"**I'm sorry," he whimpered. **

**Imogen looked down, not fazed in the slightest. **

"**Oh, don't worry 'bout it, it's ruby. I've got some lamination on me," she said, reaching into her purse and pulling out a little spray bottle. She misted it over her hand and at once, the bleeding stopped and the cut faded away.**

"**Did that hurt?" Edward asked, confused.**

"**Little bit. Between you me and the wall, I kinda numbed my sensors down so I could jam my feet into my shoes every morning." Imogen said, stomping on the ground with her heavy boot heal.**

**Edward nodded. He had no idea what that meant.**

"**Anyway, I may have never met Gina, but I met her kids. And her grandkids. And her grandkids' kids. Are you a fan of her? Of Gina?"**

**Edward nodded meekly and felt a smile creep across his face. **

"**You shoulda said something earlier in the week, I have a ton of old DVD's of hers they don't make anymore. I'll bring 'em after the weekend," Imogen offered. **

"**I'd like that," Edward nodded. **

**The last time he had talked to Gina, he remembered her saying she'd gotten into a few TV shows and had landed a part in a small independent film. She kept promising to bring a DVD player up and show him. He remembered counting the months, waiting until Christmas, and the disappointment that came when she didn't come back. He still waited. Years and years he waited. The green and rainbow sea that made up Suburbia slowly morphed into a gray landscape by day, a sea of colors by night. And still, Edward waited.**

**He waited until one day; he looked down and saw a billboard that illuminated the time and date. It was only then did Edward realize it had been more than a hundred years since he had seen Gina. He couldn't even remember how long it had been since he saw Kim. **

"**You okay there?" Imogen asked. **

**Edward shook himself out of his trance and nodded. Imogen smiled and went back behind the desk.**

"**Imogen?" Edward asked, walking towards her.**

"**Yo."**

"**How many kids did Gina have?" he asked.**

"**Just two, a girl and a boy. They were really old when I knew 'em, but they were always nice to me. Kimberly made me call her grandma."**

**Edward smiled to himself. **_**Gina always said she wanted to name her daughter after her grandmother.**_

"…**You and her son actually share a common name," Imogen said slowly.**

**Edward froze.**

"**She…she named her son Edward?" **

"**Yeah. After the male lead in the first indy movie of hers that got picked up by a major distributor. She starred in it, co-wrote the story and everything, it even took place in this town. Before it became New Suburbia," Imogen chuckled. "It was pretty obscure, didn't have a very wide release or fan base. I'm still trying to find a good quality copy of it."**

**Before he could possibly stop, Edward opened his mouth and asked the first thing to come to his mind.**

"**What was it about?"**

**Imogen turned around. The smile on her face began to lessen, but it didn't vanish completely. She took a step towards Edward and when she did speak it was slow, but warm and gentle as well. **

"**It was about the man who made the snow."**

**Imogen stared directly into Edwards eyes, silently, smiling. Edward was frozen in her gaze, unable to move, to breathe. He could practically feel his heart stop beating. **

**Imogen suddenly pressed the button behind her ear and looked up.**

"**We got company," she said, walking towards the door.**

**Edward turned around to see Tin-Tin and Lintu walking through the entrance.**

"**Hey Edward!" Tin-Tin yelled. "How was work?"**

**Edward opened his mouth, but he just couldn't speak. **

"**Busy as hell," Imogen said. "Lucky that big movie premier cleared some of the mall rats out." **

"**The Halo remake," Lintu nodded.**

"**I wanted to see it sooo bad," Tin-Tin seethed. "It sold out while we were in line. Oh, Edward, Urchin and Beck didn't stop by earlier, did they?" **

**Edward shook his head. **

"**Hmm. I ain't seen them all day," Tin-Tin said.**

"…**Should we wait for them?" Edward asked, finding his voice. **

"**I'm sure they just went home early," Lintu said. "We should probably clear out now, while there's nobody in line for the shuttles."**

**Edward glanced back at Imogen. **

"**I…"**

"**Your shift's about done, I'll clock you out now," she smiled. "You guys have a good weekend."**

**Lintu and Tin-Tin waved and walked to the door, but Edward was bolted to his spot. **

"**We'll finish talking on Monday," Imogen whispered.**

**Edward nodded and reluctantly dragged his feet to the door.**

_**-Snip-**_

It's dark by the time I fly my aching body back home. I had stopped by at the Shopping Center, but everyone was closed early. Ghost town. My Skimmer runs out of juice a dozen blocks from Beck's place, and it takes me an hour to limp down the streets.

I bang on the door, and Tin-Tin opens and lets me in.

"There you are!" she says. A pause. A glance at my mangled face. "Holy crap! What happened to ya?"

Aside from my reflection in store windows, I hadn't gotten a good look at my mangled face. All I know is that I must have scraped off a big chunk of my chin skin and that a few of my teeth are loose.

" Nothing. I ate it," I say, holding up my skimmer.

"You biffed? You ain't fallen off that thing in years. It's like, an appendage by now," Tin says as we walk down the hall.

"Why do we learn to fall?" I ask.

"So we can learn to pick ourselves back up," she grins, completing the Batman quote. "Beck wasn't with you, was he?"

"Haven't seen him all day. Where's Lintu and Edward?" I ask.

"She went back to her place, restin' up for some big test thing. Edward's chilling out on the balcony. You should go talk to him; he's being kinda…aloof."

"Aloof?" I ask. I pull my skimmer chord out of the port and jack it into a wall outlet before going to the stairs.

"Aren't…aren't you gonna fix up your face before going up there and scaring him?" Tin-Tin asks.

"_I like scaring people_," I call back.

Most people. Truthfully, I don't want to scare Edward at all. It's just…between the crowds at VertiCuts and Tin and Lintu in the evening; I haven't caught Edward alone since he started working.

I miss it. Talking to him.

I slide open the balcony door. Edward's staring off into space, doesn't even glance up at me as I walk out next to him.

"Hey,' I say.

He snaps his head over and nearly does a double take.

"Urchin…what…what happened to you?" he asks, wide eyed and gaping.

"Tried to skim over a fountain. Turns out I don't navigate across water as well as I would have hoped."

"…Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," I shrug. "I was gonna go put some stuff on it, but…it's kinda been a while, you know. Since it's just been me and you."

Edward nodded.

"How's work? You…you like it there?" I ask.

He nods.

"Well, they sure love you," I sigh, leaning back.

"You don't like it there," Edward says. "Do you?"

I chuckle.

"Can't say I do. I'm not much one for the people here. Or people in general, especially in large doses. I'm not a big fan of all this…hair and appearance stuff either, if it's not obvious," I say, gesturing at my face and flicking one of my lighter dreads forward.

"But…I'm glad you're happy. And money. Money's good to have," I nod. "Imogen's pretty cool, too."

Edward nodded enthusiastically.

"She…told you what she is, right?" I ask.

"Yes."

I flick at my chin uncomfortably. There had been another reason I was partially avoiding a conversation with Edward.

_Fuck it._

"Did she tell you who she was modeled after?" I ask.

Edward glances at me and nods.

"She did," he says. "I…I knew before she told me."

"That much like her?" I ask.

He nods again.

"She acts like her too. Little things she does…and says."

"Are you…you know, okay with that?" I ask.

"I don't mind. I…I like it," he whispers.

"Well, good. Must be nice, seeing an old face," I say.

We sit in silence for a moment, staring over at the projects, watching the hover trains cut through the air.

"Urchin?" Edward asks.

I glance over at him. He's got this…unsettled look about him. Not like he's worried or concerned…but like he wants to tell me a secret.

"Yeah?"

"Imogen…I think she knows,"—

"You guys!"

Tin-Tin jams herself through the sliding door, the beads in her hair clanking loudly against the frame.

"I just got a call from Beck. He's been on the West Side with Addy all day," she says.

"And?" I ask.

"He wouldn't say over the phone, but…he says we all gotta go over there, now. I think Addy had a breakthrough."

Edward and I exchange glances before sitting up. I wonder if I'll ever get to talk to him alone. Like how it used to be.

"Just let me change into some clean clothes," I mumble.

* * *

So I kinda just sat down and wrote this thing out today, it was weird. It normally takes me way longer to tap into things. Then again, this chapters been kicking it in the back of my head for about a year, guess it was time for it to get the fuck out. And after that last chapter, I feel a little sorry for the lack of action here…but hey, it's an Edward Scissorhands fanfic, not a Kill Bill fanfic.

I should probably update my Kill Bill fanfic next.

Anyway, it was nice to get back into the groove. As I said before, I plan on completing all of my fanfiction children, no matter how long it takes me. Hopefully not too long. Late at night once again, so I'll correct mistakes later-god, there must be forty billion, but if i don't get it up now, i don't get it up ever.

Any reviews, critiques, suggestions, questions are always welcome and frequently returned. Thanks for reading!

Write on!


	15. With Defenses Down

**Authors Note**: Hey everyone, remember me? Remember this fic? ME NEITHER!

It's been quite a while guys, and I apologize to those of you who have been waiting. Ever since I've gone to college I've been neglecting my fan fiction, but I finally sat down and got a chapter out. This is what summer is for! I'll save the notes for the end and just dive in.

**Disclaimer**: Edward Scissorhands is not mine, but everything else in this fanfic is.

* * *

**VertiCut: Chapter XV**

_West Suburbia: The Sacrosanct_

Ain't nothing like a freezing thunderstorm to welcome you back to your side of New Suburbia. The icy rain stings at my skinless chin, and Tin-Tin and Edward stand huddled behind me, trying to stay warm as I buzz at the intercom.

"Damnit, Addy," I growl, the rust on the ticket booth bars starting to stain my wrist. "Let us in!"

With a metallic groan, the gate finally slides open, the wooden doors flying apart in the wind. Tin-Tin shoots in, and I usher Edward in after her.

"Addy, you asshole. Where are you?" I call.

Silence.

"…Beck? Addy!" Tin yells.

"_Was that the right button?"_

Edward jumps at the blare of the intercom. I snap my gaze over to the stairs just as Dwight tip-toes into view.

"Oh," he says. "I guess it was."

Tin-Tin gasps at the sight of Dwight's skeletal figure, but he doesn't seem to be put off by it. He begins to descend the stairs. His eyelids look like they've healed some since we last saw each other, almost as if they've grown, obscuring the slanted corners of his alien like eyes. He's starting to look more human.

_At least his face. The only human thing left on him._

"Addy and Beck aren't here right now, they went to Café Iced Wire. They told me they would get back before you arrived, but it looks like they made a miscalculation. Addy makes these frequently. I wouldn't be able to say that about Beck though, I don't know him as well. Hello Urchin. It's good to see you. What happened to your face?"

"Hey…Dwight," I say, my voice floundering behind Tin-Tin's laughter. "I just…fell off my street skimmer…"

"What's so funny?" Dwight asks, glancing at Tin-Tin.

Tin-Tin puts her hands over her mouth.

"I'm sorry," she mumbles, laughing into her palms.

"You didn't do anything, why are you sorry? Oh. You're Tin-Tin Pierce. I remember you from before, vaguely. I haven't seen you since Addy fixed my mind though. Or you, Edward. I remember you have sharp blades instead of hands. Addy talks about those a lot. My hands are like real hands, but there's something stuck in my left arm. Addy still can't get it out. Can I get you all some towels? You're all very wet."

Before I can open my mouth, Dwight spins around and walks over towards the lounge. Tin squeals and grabs my arm.

"Urchin, he's so adorable! He's like a little kid got his brain put into a robot body!" she giggles.

"He talks very fast," Edward notes, still wide-eyed.

"_Who left the door wide open?"_

I spin my head around as Addy comes through the door, his arms filled with bags. Beck walks in behind him, slouched and soggy as hell.

"Hey kiddos!" Addy grins, pushing his bags into Beck's arms and pulling the doors shut. "I got us dinner and booze, everything we need for a sleep over."

"…_Sleep over?_" I ask.

"Hey now, can you sound less thrilled about it?" he asks, feigning a frown before coming over and slinging his arms around Tin and me. "There's a flood warning on outside, how could I call myself a gentleman if I didn't insist you all stay over?"

I duck under his arm and escape his grasp. He turns around and catches Edward by the shoulder, bringing him into the hug.

"Edward, baby, I hear you're a superstar on the south side. Know how I know? Cuz I didn't even need to hear it from Beck! In fact, I got several lady friends who work at the Clinic down there who would be….well, lemme say…_very _grateful if you could reserve an appointment for them."

Edward nods uncomfortably, clearly not getting the idea. I roll my eyes as Beck walks up behind me. A pair of fingers find their way to my jaw line and tilt my face in his direction.

"What happen to you? Get in a fight?" he asks in his broken voice.

I pull away from him just as Dwight walks back into the room.

"She fell off her street skimmer. Addy, you miscalculated your return by nine minutes and twenty-three seconds. What did you bring me?"

Without a beat, there's a towel in my hand and Dwight's standing between Beck and me, digging through the bags in Beck's hands.

"I got the flavored gum for you, I'm not wasting anymore real people food on your metal ass. Where's _my_ towel?" Addy asks.

"I got towels for the guests," Dwight said, gesturing to me, Tin and Edward. "You live here. You know where the towels are."

"You're an ungrateful little ingrate, you are," Addy laughs, slipping away behind the snack booth and ducking out of view.

I glance at Beck, who's quite clearly intentionally avoiding eye contact with me. I glance back at Edward, shuffling uncomfortably and twitching his blades.

"So you had some kind of breakthrough?" I call to Addy.

"An idea!" he calls back. "If a do say so myself, an amazing idea. I think. Tin-Tin baby, can you tell us all what today is?"

"Um….Friday?" she asks.

"Specifically, what makes today special? Anyone? Anyoneeeee?"

And to my surprise as Tin thinks, Edward opens his mouth.

"Imogen…said there was a movie premier. She let everyone off work early to see it," he says, shakily and unsure.

"Ding-ding-ding!" Addy sticks his head up, beaming. "Bingo, five points Eddy."

"Halo? I knew that!" Tin-Tin yelps. "I was waiting in line, but they sold out!"

"Well lucky thing for you, 'cuz guess what I just stole in a totally not illegal way?" Addy beams.

Tin runs over to Addy screaming in delight, but my feet remain planted. I can feel the teeth I loosened today aching as I grit them together. I don't need Edwards wide eyed glance to know that the look on my face must be terrifying.

"Addy," I say slowly. "If you called us all the way over here to watch a fucking movie, I'm punching you in the mouth."

He peers out from under Tin-Tin's choke-hold hug over the counter, tossing me a sassy grin.

"I throw the BEST sleepovers," he says, snuggling up to Tin.

I ball my fists and start to walk over to him.

"Okay-okay-okay!" he yelps, bending down and out of Tin's grasp. He pops back up and swings over the counter, a brown box in his hands.

"I've spent so much time concentrating on trying to crack the code from Edwards' brain-scan, I didn't even go over his vitals. And despite the little discrepancies caused by fear and that one itty-bitty moment where he passed out from the skin graph, his vitals are the healthiest I've ever scanned. His pulse, breathing rate, those things. Except for one point. One itty-bitty point that might be the key to showing us all what he really is."

Edward tilts his head and twitches a blade, I frown.

"What happened?" Tin asks.

"When Urchin fell asleep on his lap, his vitals changed. Greatly."

"Hey doctor obvious?" I yawn. "Doesn't everyone's heart rate go up when people get touch them?"

"Yeah, but does everyone's vitals shift to perfectly match the person you're touching?" Addy asks snarkily.

"…_What?"_

"When you fell asleep on him, the chair started scanning you too. Freaked me out the first time I reviewed it, suddenly for several hours Edwards got double the organs, but then I remembered finding you all cuddled up to him and waking ya up. But during that time, Edward's vitals reflected your own, balls on accurate. His breathing patterns, his pulse,"—

"So…you're saying Edward's body mimics someone when they're touching him?"

"If they're touching him for a certain amount of time, yes. I'm theorizing it might be kinda like what robots do, how they unconsciously mimic human behavior, part of their self learning thing," Addy explains. "It's why Dwight's chest rises and falls like he's breathing, or why he feels compelled to chew up and then spit out all the twinkies in my freezer."

I glance back briefly at Dwight, who's in the process of jamming the entire pack of gum into his mouth.

"Twinkies are delicious," he says with his mouth full.

"They _are_," Addy says, grinning. "It's too bad they're made of like, factory discharge. That and sugar. I think."

"But…I'm not a robot," Edward says gently, a look of concern splattered across his pale, scarred face.

"You're not," I say firmly. "Addy was just using it as a comparison."

Beck clears his throat. The look on his face hints that he's heard all of this before, and just wants to get on with it.

"Anyway!" Addy continues "So, I thought back on it, and we never actually left Edward alone. Someone was always with him, at least during the scan. My question: if being in proximity of people gives him perfect, healthy vitals, and touching people makes his vitals mirror theirs…what happens to his vitals if humans aren't anywhere around him?"

"…What happens?" Edward asks.

"I dunno," Addy shrugs. "But hopefully we can find that out now. My idea: total quarantine for the night. We stay away from you, get you alone, and see how your organs react. I was thinking we could send you into the theater with this here mini-scanner I rigged up, that way you won't be completely bored stiff during the experiment."

Addy pats the brown box, and I glance at Edwards face. He stares at the box, to Addy, to me.

"…I'll do it," he nods.

"Ruby!" Addy grins, opening the box. "Let the best movie marathon ever begin."

_**-Snip-**_

As Halo nears its finale, Tin-Tin's wide eyes finally tear up, but she doesn't make a sound. Just blinks them out of the way and continues to state at the massive flat screen Addy moved into the lounge. I yawn and stretch, not feeling immersed in the slightest. Weeks ago, snuggling up with Tin and Beck, watching a movie on a disposable DVD player in the cold back ally on a dirty mattress…that would have been normal. Better than normal. It would have been perfect.

Now though? Not so much. Beck's snoring from a sofa, Addy keeps sneaking his arm over Tin or my shoulder, and I can't stop but stare down the hallway to the theater doors. Back there, Edwards watching the same movie we are. Only he's got a monitor hooked up to him, recording the beats of his heart and how fast his lungs are pumping. It makes me nervous. I'd sooner sleep then stay up all night watching movies—just to kill this damn anticipation.

The credits finally roll, Tin-Tin leaps up in excitement and grabs onto me.

"That was amazing! It was brilliant, it was beautiful, did you see that aliens head, when it exploded?"

Tin-Tin's cries send Beck shooting up awake. He launches off the sofa and hits the floor, his voice box groaning metallically as he does.

"DID YOU SLEEP THROUGH IT?" Tin demands, her happy expression contorted into a venomous one.

"I disliked it," Dwight chimes in.

"WHAT?" Tin yelps. "Why?"

"I don't much care for violence," Dwight shrugs. "Apparently your species can't get enough of it."

Tin-Tin clams up immediately, realizing she's asked a product of human cruelty and an unwilling death machine why he didn't care for a war movie. Her pale face turns red, and even I'm glad when Addy hops up to break the tension.

"Hey…let's not let the buzz die down yet….I'm gonna go fix up some more coffee and snacks before we start the next movie," Addy says, stretching his arms. He rolls his sleeves up, revealing for a moment that black band tattooed around his upper arm.

"I'll come with you," Tin says quickly. She's out of the room before Addy is.

"I want a snack," Dwight says, following after them, oblivious to the awkward situation he was just involved in.

And then it's just me and Beck. Alone.

He rubs his bloodshot eyes and yawns, the static buzz from his throat clicking through the air.

"Addy leave any whiskey for me?" he asks.

I roll him the half empty bottle, the contents of which had been divided between Addy and Tin 80 to 20. Dwight had demanded a shot, and spent the better part of ten minutes sputtering and licking the salt at the bottom of the popcorn bowl to get the taste out.

Beck pulls back the cap and takes it straight from the bottle, wincing after two gulps and pulling it away from his lips. We were never really big drinkers. Tin's a lightweight so we learned to keep her away from the stuff, I've hated the smell of the stuff since I was a kid, from the bloody mary's my mom mixed herself after she got home from the hospital. The biggest factor was probably that we were all way too poor to ever be able to waste our food money on something as frivolous as alcohol, not that it stopped Beck from finding people to bum drugs off of. But then he got into his accident, and me and Tin made him promise he would never poison his body or mind again.

I figured he learned his lesson over the summer when he fucked up his voice box over a few puffs of meth. Tin wouldn't talk to him for a week for breaking his promise. Now, I realize he's either trying to piss me off, or show me that he doesn't give a shit what I think anymore.

_Two can play at that game._

I roll over and scoot to him, putting my hand out for the bottle. He narrows his eyes at me blankly.

"You don't drink," Beck says sourly.

"Watch me," I spit.

He relinquishes the bottle; I put it to my lips and start glugging. The taste hits me after my first shallow sip and it makes my eyes water, but I keep drinking, fast so it doesn't sit on my tongue long. After a few moments though, Beck reaches out and yanks the bottle away from me, sending whiskey spilling down my skinned chin.

"OW, FUCK!" I yell, rubbing at my stinging sore. I shove Beck. "Asshole, what was that for?"

"I don't know what you're trying to prove, but knock it the HELL off," he snaps at me.

"Pffffff. Like you didn't smoke and shoot up last spring whenever Tin and me fell asleep,"—

"I'm not talking about that, I'm talking about…showing up looking like you got into a fight, trying to scare me with your beat up face, acting like you're such a badass, like I'm so dumb I don't know who you are and I ain't known you over half my life." Beck says, eyes to the floor.

"I ain't the one who's got a problem. You're the one who ditched ME today, the one who's being cold and quiet whenever we're next to each other."

"Fuck you, Urchin." Beck spits. "I've done everything I can to help you and your ... Edward, and you haven't even thanked me once. It's like you don't even care about me, now you got your new exciting cyborg friend. I'm last year's model, right? You've got a new one now, tell him all your secrets and the shit you won't tell me and Tin. Don't think I don't know. I've seen the look on your face when you're talking to him. Out on the balcony for hours, late at night after he gets off work."

I can feel my face go red, a mix of embarrassment and rage.

"If you hate him so much, why'd you even come out here today?" I demand.

"This isn't about him, this is about YOU. How you've been acting ever since you brought him down here."

I ball my hands into fists and dig my knuckles into the carpet. Beck keeps going, keeps talking, and my head starts wavering.

"I've known you long enough to be able to,"—

"You shouldn't have said what you said about my dad," I whisper.

It catches Beck off guard, and he stops talking immediately. I open my mouth, but nothing comes out but the edge of a whimper. I swallow it and press on.

"When you said he wasn't coming back," I say, fighting hard to keep my voice from shaking. "You shouldn't have said that. I don't care if that's what you think, if that's what you've thought since….since he left. You shoulda kept it to yourself."

_Maybe then I could still trust you._

I don't say it. I don't think I have to. Beck rubs the back of his scarred head. He lifts the bottle and sips it, a pathetic mouthful before he reaches into his pocket.

"You wanna know why I came out here today?" he asks, pulling out a few folded sheets of paper.

I don't say yes, but I glance down at the papers as he unfolds them. The first one is a Battle Bot. I squint and realize it was the raptor- like robot from the battle Beck and I spied on over in the South Gate Shopping Center. Beck pulls out the next, this one of the angel robot, the one who triumphed with his surprise razor wings. It's taken right from the fight, the same one we saw.

"Addy got these for you?" I asked.

"He knew how to access the host website, break through the firewalls and download the stream. These are all still frames from the footage," he says.

Beck looks at me, and slowly flips to the final page. Standing to the sideline by the dugout is Darla—her platinum hair tied back, her piercings removed from her face, but undoubtedly her. I can make out the barbed wire scar along her arm.

"Your sister," I say quietly.

"Half-sister," Beck corrects. "I was positive I saw her there, I just…wanted to make sure."

I don't know what to say. Darla worked for my father. She was friends with my robot. She took everything she learned and turned it against everything my dad and Asimov worked against. I should feel furious. I should be livid. I should want to hunt her down and have her locked up.

Instead, I just feel disappointed. Hurt and confused with a head that won't stop spinning.

"Can I have more booze please?" I ask.

Beck passes me the bottle, and I sip from it, but after the taste hits me, I give up and put it to the side.

"Did you tell Lintu?" I ask.

Beck sighs.

"Not yet. I don't know if I should," he says. "Our second day in South Gate I asked her if she knew anything 'bout what Darla's been doing…she got really scared and nervous when I hinted at Battle Bots. I think she suspected something along those lines for a while; she just doesn't want to believe it. Hell, I don't want to believe it."

I look down at the picture, and furrow my brows.

"Beck?" I ask.

"What?"

I reach my fingers down to the photograph, pointing up into the corner, the hallow night sky glowing sickly with the lights of the city. The corner of a very distinctive sign, one beat down, coated in graffiti, and clearly close to the hover train station from the lack of lights behind it. _IRE_.

"That's the Café Iced Wire we go to," I say. "The one we USED to go to, when we lived on this side of Suburbia."

Beck glances down at the photo, squinting, trying to determine if it's true. I already know it, though…it makes so much sense. There are tons of abandoned buildings by Café Iced Wire, it's not busy, perfect to host an arena. It's close to the hover train docks, easy entry into the Projects. I glance back up at Beck, and he's not staring at the picture anymore. He's staring at me.

"I'm…sorry about what I said. About your dad," he says. "I've felt like shit ever since I said it."

I quickly look back to the photo.

"It's…whatever. The past has passed, and that's why we call it past." I say, quoting his words from a happier time. It feels like a lifetime ago, but…it's really only been a few weeks, hasn't it? I stop myself from thinking about it and look back down at the picture.

"You know, I bet we could figure out what building this was. If we went out to the backstreets behind Iced Wire," I suggest.

Beck nods slowly, pulling himself up as Tin and Addy make their way down the hall, giggling as they walk towards us. I sit up against Beck and quickly cap the booze. And though things are better now—for now—I can't help but feel as if this gap between us, this exposed wound will never heal. And it doesn't matter how sorry he is, or how much I'd like things to go back to the way they were, or even if we do start trusting each other again.

Because nothing can ever fix what he said about my dad.

_**-Snip-**_

**Edward sat in the theater, staring up at the screen. He was halfway into the third movie of the night, although he had barely paid any attention to them at all. He was wondering about his heart. What was it doing? Was it still healthy? What was going on under his flesh and the metal bones that he was made of?**

**Before he knew it, Edward turned his head up to the screen and saw the credits flittering by. He waited for them to stop and for the next movie, looking forward to this new opportunity to escape from thought, one he kept missing. But the movie never started. The screen went black and stayed black. Without the white-noise, it suddenly felt very lonely in the theater. Quiet. Open. Cold. Edward shifted uncomfortably in his seat, and he twitched his fingers nervously.**

**He hadn't felt this way since he lived in his mansion on the mountain. More importantly, he hadn't realized how horribly empty being alone could make you feel inside.**

**After what seemed like an eternity, Edward pulled himself from his seat and walked down the isle towards the door. He had surely been alone long enough to record something useful for Addy, and it was time to go. He pushed the doors open with his elbow, and stepped down the hallway. A glance into the lounge calmed his nerves—he could see Urchin, asleep on the floor between Beck and Tin-Tin, her father's coat draped over the three of them like a blanket.**

**A faint thump echoed from down the hall, causing Edward to flinch. His immediate instinct was to move away from it, but he realized it might be Addy. Stepping gingerly across the floor, he made his way through the lounge, past the snack bar and towards the spiral staircase that lead up to the projection booth. He stopped when he heard more sounds coming from a door beneath the staircase. Edward lifted his elbow to push it open, only to find it locked. The lock however, wasn't the card swipe that Beck had to his apartment, but the old kind from Edwards own time period.**

_**Well…he really should tell Addy the movies had stopped playing…**_

**He stuck a bladed index finger into the lock, and with a flick of his wrist, the door opened. Edward walked into what seemed to be a bathroom—mirrors of all shapes and sizes had been mounted to the walls. A sturdy, industrial looking sink stood next to a chair and a metal desk, covered in tools and paper towels.**

**Edward didn't get a chance to notice the dried blood on both before he realized the room had a sharp corner leading into a hallway, and he continued down it. The sounds grew louder and louder, and he found himself in another similar bathroom, this one much bigger, still coated in mirrors but with a row of what looked like shower curtains in the back. He glances at the dozens of different images of himself moving past him in the mirrors, and his fingers snipped crisply together as he did.**

**"**_**Dwight?"**_

**The shower curtain fluttered open, jolting Edward into cutting a new fissure down his chin. His reaction was little compared to Addy's, who stumbled backwards with a scream.**

**"SHIT!" Addy yelled, pulling his towel in front of him.**

**Edward barely saw a flash of yellow tan-skin before he turned on his heels and began to power walk out of the room. He flinched again as Addy cried out in protest.**

**"NO WAIT!" Addy yelled. "Don't…don't go!"**

**It was his tone that made Edward stop. Concerned, almost desperate. Edward turned around slowly, and realized that Addy had not just come out of the shower—he was missing a shirt and his shoes, but he was wearing a pair of baggy sweatpants. He held the towel up around his upper body, shielding his shirtless torso. Hiding it. The look on his face was out of character, foreign, strange for him. Gone was the mad gleam in his eye, the ever-present smug grin. His eyes were wide, filled with fear.**

**He looked like a frightened child.**

**"…What did you see?" Addy whispered to Edward.**

**Edward tilted his head, curiosity powering him to take a bold step forward. Addy drew back, but in the powerful light, Edward had a clearer look at him. His normally shaggy, greasy hair was wet and hugged his scalp, revealing large patches of bald spots dotted with scars and stitch marks. below his collar bone on his left side, his yellow skin was stained with dark purple veins, ones that got thicker as they disappeared behind the towel.**

**"Are…are you okay?" Edward asked.**

**Addy glanced away from Edward and heaved a sigh.**

**'Fuck," Addy mumbled, still holding the towel up. He took a small step forward. A shine caught Edwards eye, and he looked over to a mirrored wall, the different angles of reflection catching Addy's hidden backside.**

**Edward gasped.**

**Addy moved quickly against a wall, but Edward's eyes widened and mouth dropped a little as he did. Addy sunk down to his knees and sat, and Edward stared down at him, his fingers twitching.**

**"…Addy?" he whispered.**

**Addy looked up then, and shot Edward a very forced half smile.**

**"Hey there, how's it going?"**

**It was no use. His voice was trembling.**

**"…What happened to you?" Edward asked.**

**Addy took a deep breath before opening his mouth to speak.**

**"I haven't exactly….gone out of my way to tell you guys much about me. Not that…it's really necessary to know….I mean…."**

**He paused to curse some more. After a few deep breaths, he continued again.**

**"Sorry. This is kind of the first time someone's walked in on me when I'm like this. I'm not exactly sure how to handle it. I kind of take precautions so I don't have to. Get put into this situation, I mean. Did I forget to lock the door or something? 'Cuz I normally don't forget that…."**

**"Nobody knows?" Edward asked.**

**"Well, Dwight knows," Addy said. "My friends in the Projects know, but they're not really in a position to….judge…."**

**"…Neither am I," Edward said gently.**

**Addy's expression softened, the fear and concern starting to drain away.**

**"Point made. You've…you trust me. I'd make a hypocrite of myself if I didn't trust you…" Addy mumbled, more to himself then to Edward.**

**He pulled himself up the wall.**

**"I…really need you to keep this a secret, though, kay?" Addy asked. "You can't tell anyone. Not even Urchin. I could get in a lot of trouble, and they could get put in a lot of danger."**

**"I won't tell anyone," Edward promised.**

**Addy nodded and with a deep breath, shed his towel. Edward grimaced at the mess of veins, the stitches and scar tissue that lined his body, the metal appendage that twisted out of the black band on his upper arm.**

* * *

Oh my god, do you know what time it is? CLIFF HANGER TIME!

I missed writing this. It was fun bringing everyone back to the Sacrosanct. Addy and Dwight, when was the last time we saw you? Wayyyyy too long ago. I feel like I'm not giving Edward enough time to shine, but in a plot heavy sci-fi story, it's bound to happen in certain chapters. Although after last chapter (and with next chapter in mind hint hint) he's realllly getting/going to be getting some action.

I apologize again for the long wait. I don't even have a good excuse, I've plenty of time to write…I've just been working more on my original writing and artwork these days. I promise you all though, I have every intention of finishing all of my fanfics. It just might take a while. If I get ten reviews for this chapter, I'll drop everything I'm doing and write the next one. What else….ummmm….anyone on Deviant Art? I spend most of my time there these days, you can stop by to check out my art or chat. Link on my profile.

As always, corrections come the day after, I can't proofread for another second. Hope you all enjoyed the chapter!

Write on!


	16. A Helping Hand

**Author's Note:** Saved for end of chapter.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Edward Scissorhands, but I do own everything else.

* * *

**VertiCut: Chapter XVI**

_West Suburbia: The Sacrosanct_

The heat disrupts me from my dreams, but it's the taste of whiskey at the back of my throat that digs me out of my sleep. I roll over, relieved to be awake. It wasn't a nightmare, wasn't even explainable. Just one of those dreams where you know you've fucked up and you feel guilty for it, even if you don't even understand what you did.

Beck and Tin-Tin are still sleeping soundly next to me. I pull myself out from between their sweaty bodies, grab my street skimmer, and wander out of the lobby.

To my surprise, I find Edward and Addy sitting together on a pair of stools that have been pulled up to the snack booth—Addy with a mug in his hand, Edward leaning over to sip out of a straw. He looks over at me with initial start, but it fades away into a smile after a moment.

"Hello, Urchin," he greets.

Addy on the other hand jumps, sending the contents of his cup spilling down his chin.

"Frick!" he cries, fanning his shirt. "You scared the balls back into me!"

I open my mouth to make a sarcastic retort, but then I realize how wide Addy's eyes are. I raise my eyebrow as I sit down on a stool next to Edward.

"Did I really scare you that bad?" I ask.

Addy and Edward share a quick glance, and Addy shrugs.

"Um, no," he says hastily. "Not really. You didn't scare me. Nothing scares me. On account of I'm so masculine."

I glance back at Edward, who's staring quietly at the glass countertop.

"…What were you guys talking about?" I ask.

"Just, ya know. Tellin' Edward about that extensive collection of adult films I found in the storage facility. Ain't that right, buddy?" Addy asks, winking.

I glance at Edward and to my surprise he nods. Something weird is going on and I know Addy must be up to something, but I shrug it off for now. If I put any more thought into why Addy did the things he did, I'd give myself a headache.

"So, did you get all the info you needed?" I ask as I strap my skimmer behind my back.

"Sure did, got my computers processing it right now. Should be done in about a day or two,"—

"A day or two?!" I ask, the frustration clearly present in my voice. "You only recorded what, less than ten hours of data and you're gonna need a day or two to get back to us?"

Addy stretches his arm up and scratches his bandana, pulling his lips into a sheepish grin.

"Actually…it'll take a day or two to process it all, it may take me till the end of the week to get back to you guys. I kinda have a …a thing in the projects I gotta tend to…."

"Of course," I sigh, slumping down in my seat.

"Hey lady, don't be busting my balls here," Addy says, putting his hands on his hips in mock anger. "I ain't running no charity here. I got a life of my own."

"Yeah," I snort. "In the projects."

"That's where all the cool kids hang out," he grins.

"Then why don't you ever take me?"

Edward jolts as Dwight comes walking down the stairs.

"Pfffft. Not cool enough," Addy scoffs, staring at his fingernails.

"Good morning Urchin and Edward," Dwight says, ignoring Addy and walking towards us. "I enjoyed watching movies with you and your friends last night, except for the part where I tasted the alcohol. I would never have assumed something human kind values so much would taste nearly so vile. May I cook either you and or Edward breakfast before you go?"

Before I can say a word, he's already ducked behind the counter and pulled out an electric frying pan, and then he's down again, pulling a carton of eggs out of what I assume is a mini fridge.

"I…didn't know you cooked, Dwight," I say.

"Addy says I'm quite proficient, and I find it cathartic. I also enjoy the taste of food. Out of the predetermined list of appropriate breakfast foods, my favorite is bacon."

"You're not allowed to eat anymore of my goddamn bacon, all you get is gum from now on." Addy says.

"Provide me with bacon flavored gum and I'll comply," Dwight shrugs. "Urchin, how do you like your eggs?"

"Um…over easy. Thanks."

"Aren't you going to ask me how I want MY eggs?" Addy demands.

"I'm not making breakfast for you," Dwight says, cracking an egg and smiling faintly. "You're not cool enough."

As Addy reels in reaction to Dwight's burn, Dwight glances over at Edward and tilts his head.

"Edward? How do you like your eggs?" he asks.

Edward glances at me for a moment before smiling back at Dwight.

"I'll have the same as Urchin," he says gently. "Thank you."

Addy sighs and hops off his stool, reaching under the counter and pulling a can of whipped cream and a chocolate bar out.

"Whatever squares, candy for breakfast for me," he says, walking off.

"Where the hell are you going?" I call.

"To wake up Tin-Tin! See if she wants to prank Beck with me!" Addy says, wiggling the can of whipped cream in the air before he scuttles into the lobby. As he disappears, I glance over at Edward.

"You make it through the night okay?" I ask.

Edward nods, glancing up at me and twitching his blades nervously.

"What's wrong?"

"…Your face…" he says.

I reach up and touch my face in confusion and wince at the pain.

"Fuck, owww!" I hiss.

_That's right. My chin._ I glance down at the clear counter; take in the sight of my swollen bruised chin and the dark scab that's formed over it. I sneer at my reflection.

"You said a bad word."

I glance up and look at Dwight, who's stopped attending the frying pan and is staring at me, wide eyed.

"Um…I'm sorry,"—

My apology is cut short by a loud, mechanical screech. Addy comes darting out of the lobby with Beck chasing after him, wiping whipped cream off his face.

"I'm gonna rip you a new asshole, Addy!" Beck yells.

"ABUSE! Hate crime!" Addy screams, running up the spiral staircase with Beck close on his heels. As they disappear out of sight, Tin-Tin walks up to the counter yawning.

"G'morning," She says, stretching her arms.

"Good morning Tin-Tin, I hope you slept well. How do you like your eggs?" Dwight asks, passing me my eggs and pulling two more out of the container.

"Ohhh, scrambled please!" Tin says, her grin a mile wide. She hops up on a stool next to me.

"So did Addy get everything he needed? Think we can head home after breakfast?" she asks. "Well, after Beck and Addy are done tussling?"

"Actually, if you don't mind…I could meet you guys at the hover docks? I need an hour to pick up some stuff from my old apartment." I say.

"Hmmm? Sure! I'd like to grab a shower and junk before we get out of here, it'll probably be a while."

"Perfect."

I reach down and shovel my eggs into my mouth before standing up.

"Thanks for breakfast, Dwight. I'll see you soon." I say.

I start to walk away, but I here the creek of a stool and turn around to see Edward sliding out of his seat and shuffling behind me.

"Edward?" I ask. "You wanna come with?"

Edward nods.

"Is that okay?" he asks.

I stare at the look on his face, his big, nervous dark eyes, and I have to fight from smiling.

"It's fine," I say with a nod, silently relieved to be in his company.

**_-Snip-_**

I open the door to my old West Side apartment, pausing briefly and glancing around for any traces of life. While I doubt my mom has come home since the last time we were both here, I don't want to take any chances.

"Cherry!" I call in. No response. I step inside, batting off the bitter nostalgia that meets me as I enter. How mom had pointed a gun to Edwards head, how she had hit me. I begin to grit my teeth as I remember it all. Uncurling her fist to find she'd gotten rid of her wedding ring. Finally telling her exactly what I thought of her all these years.

Her telling me my father was dead in return.

I shake my head and plow through the living room. There's no sign of her as I swing her door open, and I sigh in relief.

"You can come in, Edward," I call out the door. "She ain't here."

Edward slowly walks into the apartment, fingers twitching and eyes wide.

"Are you sure it's safe?" he whispers.

"To be here? Yeah. Wouldn't make sense for her to be here in the middle of the day anyway, just…wanted to make sure," I nod.

I glance at the kitchen and on reflex start to walk to it, but then stop, realizing that between Beck and Edward, there's no need to raid whatever rotten leftovers or canned soups my mom may have tucked away. Instead, I walk back into her room, Edward behind me.

"This is her room," I say.

Edward twitches, but I gesture for him to sit on the bed. Then I get to work.

Her room is pretty hollow. The bed has gathered dust from neglect and her dresser is bare except for a few articles of old clothing. I find a silver credit disk in the bottom shelf and even though I don't need it, I stuff it into my pocket without a second thought.

"What are you looking for?" Edward asks.

"…I don't really know," I say. "I was just…thinking about my dad last night. Mom has to have some more information about him aside from what she gave me. At least it's worth it to look."

There's nothing under her bed, so I move on to the closet. Some old dresses and shirts, a few pairs of scrubs, discolored high heels on the floor, and a safe.

"Jackpot," I mumble, getting down on my knees to inspect it. It's black and old and I can see fresh finger marks have broken through the thick layer of dust on top of it. It's been used recently. With further inspection, I discover exactly how old this piece of shit is—there's no digital board for the combination. Just a keyhole.

"Son of a bitch," I sigh, pulling myself off the floor.

"What's wrong?" Edward asks.

"There's a safe back here, but there's no way I can get in without blowing it up, it needs a key. If it was a combination I could just guess it or get Addy to,"…

I trail off as Edward stands up, walking toward the closet.

"Can I see it?" he asks.

Confused, I step out of the way to let him pass. He walks into the closet and gently bends down, and I watch over his shoulder as he sticks his index finger blade into the lock and flicks his wrist.

A few moments later, there's a click, and the safe pops open.

"How…how did you do that?" I ask as Edward stands back up. He just glances back at the safe and then to me.

"I've always been able to," he says.

"Damn. That would come in handy if most locks weren't digital these days," I say as I bend over and peer into the safe.

Files. Stacks and stacks of files. I pull the one on top out and flick it open, skimming through the lines. Doesn't take too long before his name comes up. Dr. Angelo Rowan. My dad. I snap the folder close and scoop the rest of them out.

"Thanks for that, Edward," I say, standing up and kicking the safe shut.

Edward follows after me into my room, and I dump the folders onto my bed before turning to the closet.

"Did you find what you needed?" he asks.

"Won't know until I go through it all, but at least I found something."

I sort through my closet, clearing out my drawers of my old jeans and worn shirts and bras. I've been getting away with borrowing some less vibrant pieces of Tin's wardrobe, but her clothing is starting to become too snug for my liking. With the constant access to food at the shopping center and little exercise, I've been getting fatter. Better to just switch back to my old loose clothing before Tin and Lintu get wise and demand to take me shopping for a new wardrobe. The very thought makes me cringe.

"That looks like everything," I say when I've cleared my closet out. I untuck my blanket from my bed and tie the edges into a big knot, slinging my haul over my back before turning to Edward.

"Kay. Let's get outta here," I nod.

**_-Snip-_**

The train ride back to South Gate is eerily quiet, but there aren't that many commuters this time of day. Beck and Tin end up falling asleep together, and I doze off for a little bit too. When I wake up Edward's next to me, staring out of the window. Lost in thought.

"Hey," I yawn. "You okay?"

Edward glances over at me and nods, even though his mind is clearly elsewhere.

"What you thinking about?" I ask.

He stays silent, twitching his blades.

"Is it the scan results?" I ask gently.

There's a small pause before he nods. I sit up and put my hand on his back.

"Just remember. Whatever the results are…it don't change anything. You're still you, no matter what you're made of. Right?"

Edward looks at me and a small smile breaks across his face.

"Thank you," he nods.

"No problem," I say, smiling back.

"Are…you okay?" he asks, glancing at the bundle on my lap. I can guess he's thinking about the files, but I act like I don't know.

"Yeah. Just glad to be getting out of this shit hole and back home," I say.

"I thought you didn't like South Gate?" Edward asks.

"I don't. But… I don't like the west side either. If its not decorated rich brats, its street scum who've lost their moral code," I say, thinking of the Battle Bot fight Beck and I saw. How it probably happened right down the street from the Café Iced Wire we used to consider a second home.

"This whole city is rotten," I mumble.

"…Do you ever think of leaving?" Edward asked quietly.

"All the time. I've been counting down the days since I was a kid. Just six more…no wait…five. Five more months…"

I trail off as I realize almost a month has past since I last thought of leaving the city. I'm less than half a year away from turning eighteen and being able to leave. I try to think about what's more confusing, the fact that I didn't even realize how much time had passed since I met Edward, or that the prospect of leaving New Suburbia no longer has that glorious ring it once had to it. In my silence, Edward snips his fingers nervously.

"Are you…really leaving in five months?" Edward asks, clearly worried.

"…I don't know what I'm doing anymore." I say honestly. "I mean…everything's different now. There's you. I wouldn't want to leave you on your own. And…"

I trail off and Edward lifts his eyebrows.

"…What is it?" he asks.

"My dad," I say quietly.

Edward twitches a blade.

"When he left all those years ago, I always figured it was out of this place. Somewhere …better. I thought that I'd have better luck finding him if I left too. But that company, Novex, the one on the files mom gave me…it was here in this city. If that was the last place he worked before he disappeared, then my best chance of finding more clues is here."

I sigh and put my head in my hands, rubbing my tired eyes.

"…Can I help?" Edward whispers.

I glance up at Edward and meet his eyes.

"You mean…can you help me find my dad?" I ask.

He nods.

"You've…you helped me a lot, Urchin. If I can…I want to help you too."

Something about the way he says it, it hits me hard. Makes me smile, almost makes me tear up.

"…That would be really great. I mean, I don't know how you could, hell, I don't even know what I could do. But…it's good to know I have you in my corner."

Edward smiles at me, and I lean my head against his shoulder and put my hand gently on top of his bladed fingers. And it feels really nice. Not just knowing that he's there to help me, but knowing that he believes me when I say I know my dad's still alive. It's comforting. It gives me hope.

"Thank you, Edward," I whisper.

* * *

Bet you guys never thought you'd see a chapter for this old thing again. I had some free time today and stumbled upon this unfinished chapter while cleaning out files on my old laptop, and the rest just came out easily. Guess it had been building up for a while.

Little update 'bout me: Still in college, at the moment I just finished the semester, been working on a bunch of original stories, and am battling my way over the wall of one serious art block. Speaking of art, I noticed now we can upload little thumbnails for our stories, neato! I've put up an old picture of Urchin I did a million years ago, but maybe I'll try to do something a little more ambitious over the summer, give myself a reason to draw a good picture of her. I spend most of my time on Deviant Art these days, so if any of you wanna connect, please drop by and say hi! Link on my profile!

Corrections tomorrow, if I proof read one more time I'll never update this. Thank you all for reading, even after all this time. It's truly appreciated!

Write on!


	17. Pause Between Beats

**Author's Note:** You may want to refresh on chapters 13 and 14.

**Disclaimer**: Edward and the characters from his film are not mine. Everything else is.

* * *

**VertiCut: Chapter XVII**

**_South Gate Shopping Center_**

I sit next to Beck in the Chill Pod at the shopping center's Iced Wire as he checks his voice mail from the computer. I tap my foot and scratch at my itchy, scabby chin. He glances back at me and rolls his eyes.

"If you keep doing that you're gonna give yourself a scar," he says in a mocking voice.

"And if I work hard at it, maybe one day I'll be able to catch up to you," I yawn.

He stifles a chuckle before clicking on the next audio file. Ever since that night at the Sacrosanct, things have been better between us. Not like how they used to be, not by a long shot, but there's less tension, less animosity, less dirty looks. And though it's still raw and the truce between us feels a little forced, I ain't gonna complain.

It's a hell of a lot better than being pissed off at each other.

"Nothing from Addy," Beck says as he pulls out his ear bud and tosses it on the desk.

I get up and slam down into the water bench against the wall.

"Damn it," I say with a sigh as the bench bounces under my weight and the fish inside dart about.

"It's still Thursday," Beck says, coming over and sitting on the other side of the bench. "Addy said not to expect to hear from him till the end of the week."

"What does he even do down in the projects?" I ask.

"He's got some friends down there that he helps out or something, " Beck shrugs.

"…Not Battle-Bot dealers, right?"

Beck spins around in his seat, so he's facing me.

"You really think Addy would be into that kinda shit? While he's practically married to that robot he fixed up?" Beck asks, sounding almost defensive.

"No," I say quickly. "I just know what goes on in the projects, is all."

"It actually doesn't sound so bad. Not as bad as everyone makes it out to be at least, from what little Addy told me," he says. "His friends down there, he said they restore lost Battle-Bots. Like what he did with Dwight, only dozens of them. He said the people down there, they'd…been putting the pressure on dealers to get the fuck out of their town. Kinda explains why Darla was crashing in my apartment, huh?"

I can feel my jaw drop a little and I sit up.

"Holy shit," I say.

Beck nods.

"If that's true, it's almost funny," I say. "The most humane place in New Suburbia is a big, dark hole in the ground."

"More sad than funny," Beck sighs.

I pause for a minute before I decide to ask him what I've been thinking for days.

"Why does it bug you so much that Darla's dealing in Battle-Bots?" I ask.

Beck snaps his head up at me.

"I mean, since when did you start caring about robots?" I elaborate. "I…I always appreciate you and Tin were there for me whenever the IBC truck would come by and freak me out, but…it never really felt like you cared for robots themselves…more like you were just humoring me."

"Just because I don't have a giant boner for robots like you doesn't mean I don't think it's fucked up, what they do to them," Beck says, looking insulted.

I narrow my eyes at him and fight the urge to flip him off.

"I do not have a giant boner for robots," I say.

"You know what I mean," he sighs. "Back when we were kids, you were the only person I knew who really owned a robot themselves. You were close to Asimov, he was your friend. Now, he was always nice to me, but it's just…different for me. I never knew any robots closely like that. I just knew you liked them better than people."

_You don't have to sound so resentful about it_. I don't say it out loud. It's not worth getting back into a fight over. I watch as Beck sighs and lets himself fall backwards, and I go back to scratching my chin.

"It's also just…sad. Darla, she was like you. She was close to robots, close to Asimov. She'd always talk about things he'd say to her, it was like she idolized him. She was his friend. And after all that, now she's just totally fine cutting them apart and forcing them to fight to the death? I mean, shit. She was gonna go to college, study robots, she was going to build them, work with them, it was her dream. And now she's a heartless fucking criminal, torturing and killing the one thing she used to care about most," Beck whispers, his mechanical voice vibrating. I look at him, really look at him, and I can see the hurt in his eyes.

"I mean, what the hell could have happened to her?" He asks me.

It takes me a moment to realize I've been itching at my chin so hard I'm bleeding. Beck never opens up, at least not like this. He hadn't been close to Darla for years now, but he was, once. And when I think of how protective he is over me and Tin-Tin…I realize how bad it must be to see his own flesh and blood fall so hard. After a moment, I force myself to look away from his pained face, and to roll over on the water bench.

"People change," I say quietly. "It's sad when they change for the worse."

_**-Snip-**_

**Imogen hadn't been at work on Monday to talk to Edward like she said she would. Nor had she come in the rest of the week. **

**The senior employees told Edward she was away on business, taking care of something important at one of the other shops she managed. Edward was nervous to work with people without her, but it came naturally like it always had. Still, it made him feel restless, and in the small space between cutting customers' hair, he found himself twitching his blades uncontrollably thinking about their last encounter. **

**How she stepped close to him, and stared knowingly at him when she told him about the movie her likeness made about the man who made the snow. Her hushed tone when she told him they would continue their conversation when he came back to work when their privacy was invaded. What did she know? **

_**And why hadn't he been able to bring himself to tell Urchin about it?**_

**Edward's next customer stepped up, a girl with eyes like a snake and green scales instead of eyebrows. She flipped her green and yellow hair before sitting down, clearly excited. **

"**Make it look…reptilian," She said, leaning back and closing her eyes. **

**Edward nodded and got to work, snipping and slicing off strands of hair. While normally, working on his craft would occupy him completely, he couldn't help but feel distracted with everything going on. The possibility that Imogen might know who he really was. The fact that he might find out **_**what**_** he really was very soon. And then there was the secret Addy confided in him. What that secret meant for him, and everyone else.**

**It was more than overwhelming. It was frightening. **

**As Edward slowed his blades, his client opened her eyes and looked at the mirror, grinning and revealing a forked tongue and sharp teeth. Her hair had been layered into short, scale like clumps, fanning upward in the middle like spikes. As she smiled and admired her reflection, Edward caught a glance of something else in the mirror.**

_**Imogen. She was back.**_

**A tremor shot through Edward's blades as he turned away from the lizard girl towards Imogen. She had changed her hairstyle again, her long red feathers now piled and pinned up into a high mohawk, loose strands bouncing across the shaven parts of her scalp as she walked over to the desk. She bumped the current desk girl playfully with her hip and the two laughed as Imogen clicked a button behind her ear and began to type on thin air. After a moment, she glanced over to Edward's station, and with bright eyes and a warm smile, she stuck out two fingers and beckoned him forward. **

**And Edward didn't feel nervous or overwhelmed or frightened. He felt how he used to feel whenever Gina would visit him. He walked quickly over to the front desk. **

"**Edward, my little money maker," Imogen greeted with a wink. "How've you been?" **

"**Good," he said. **

"**I'm so sorry I bailed out on you, the gallery I manage had a crisis and I needed to spend a few days sorting things out. You been holding up okay on your own?" She asked.**

"**I've been fine," Edward nodded quietly. **

"**Ruby. Still, how's about I make it up to you?" Imogen said, a gleam in her eye. "Why don't you take your lunch break with me right now? My treat." **

**Edward felt a smile break across his face.**

"**I'd like that," he said. **

_**-Snip-**_

"Hey, Urchin?" Beck said. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Yeah…" I say tentatively, wary of his formality.

"What's the deal with you and Edward?" he asks.

"The fuck is that supposed to mean?" I demand, sucking in a sharp breath.

"Huh?"

"What?" I ask. "You still think I'm screwing him?"

"What the hell, no!" Beck says, putting up his hands. "I mean like…how did you even meet him? He's the one who saved your life, right? All those years ago? He was the reason you'd always get so shook up when IBC went towards the mansion?"

It catches me off guard and for a minute, all I can do is just sit there.

"Yeah," I finally say.

"What happened? I know you got your scar up there, but how?" He asks.

I shake my head.

"These guys were chasing me, I went up there trying to lose them," I say. " They caught me, and they were gonna tear me to shreds. Their ringleader cut me with his knife. That's how I got the scar."

I trace the scar from the corner of my eye down to my cheek, and watch Beck's eyes go wide in horror.

"Edward saved me from them," I say. "He fought them off, and I got the fuck out of there. "

"He fought them off? Edward?" Beck asks in disbelief.

"Shredded one guys face into ribbons," I say.

"Jesus," Beck whispers.

I nod.

"One of them, the leader, he had a gun. He tried to shoot Edward, but I jumped him and he shot the ceiling. A bunch of it collapsed and crushed them all. That's why Edward had that metal part of his skull exposed when you first saw him, too," I say, not quite understanding why I'm telling him all this.

_Or why it feels so good to finally say it all out loud. _

"Who was after you? Did they make it out after the collapse?" Beck asks.

I open my mouth to answer, but the computer on the desk starts beeping. Beck jumps up and runs over, plugging on his ear bud. After a moment, he glances at me, his eyes narrow and angry.

"She's there again," he says, almost a hiss.

"What?" I ask.

"Darla," Beck spits, closing out of the voicemail app and standing up. "I asked the staff at the Café Iced Wire on the west side to keep their eye out for her, gave them her picture and promised them all some cred and told them to call me if they saw her in the area. She's there. She's gotta be heading to the Battle-Bot arena."

A wave of nausea washes over me and I feel the hairs on the back of my neck go up.

"You're trying to catch her in the act," I say. "You're trying to confront her."

"Fuckin' A I am," Beck says. "I'll be back later."

As he walks to the door, I stand up too.

"Wait," I say.

I pull on my father's coat and grab my street skimmer off the floor.

"I'm coming with you," I nod.

_**-Snip-**_

**At the South Gate Memorial Park, Edward stood next to Imogen, twitching his blades nervously. She was chatting up the person in the food truck, and after a few moments, they handed her a bag of food and a colorless snow cone.**

"**Sorry it's nothing fancy," Imogen said as they walked into the park. " But I've got a favorite secret spot here where we can eat, I think you'll like it."**

**Edward glanced at the food in Imogen's hands, and glanced around to make sure no one was in hearing distance. **

"**You can…eat?" he asked nervously.**

"**No, but I can taste, and I have to drink a certain amount of water every week to keep my organic bits healthy. I try to mix it up a bit."**

**Imogen lifted up her snow cone.**

"**It's coconut. It may not have any pretty colors, but coconut is the single greatest flavor the planet Earth thought up," she said as she brought it to her lips and licked it. **

**Edward smiled. **

**He followed Imogen across the trimmed grass law to a large, unkempt hedge. He started to snip at it out of habit while Imogen brushed some branches out of the way, revealing an old rusty gate. She pulled her wrist to the door and swiped it in front of the digital pad under the handle, and the gate creaked open. **

"**C'mon in," She called back. **

**Confused, Edward tucked in his hands and followed her. **

**Inside there was an unkempt and overgrown garden, massive thorny shrubs towering over knee-high grass. **

"**Follow me, we're almost there!" Imogen ushered. **

**She darted behind a bush and disappeared. Edward took off after her, weaving between shrubs, vines, and trees. Edward looked closer at the disheveled jungle and noticed the bushes were covered in honeysuckle vines and the grass had large patches of hyacinth sprouting out. He fought the urge to stop and trim the bushes and pressed on, following the sound of Imogen's steps, wondering how she could run so fast in such impractical footwear. As he twisted through a labyrinth of green, he came to a small bridge set over a dried out river. He looked across and saw Imogen standing under a large, gnarled magnolia tree, setting the food out on a metal picnic table. He walked across the bridge to her and she looked up and grinned. **

"**It used to be a botanical garden. My family owned it. When they moved we kinda had to pick and choose which businesses to keep alive, and well…this one didn't make the cut. We still own the property, but you should have seen it back when everything was in bloom. "**

**Edward looked around at the wild flowers. **

"**There's still some flowers, " he said. **

**Imogen smiled brightly.**

"**Life finds a way, " she said, sitting down at the table. "I always wanted to open this place back up, but ya know. Always a reason not to."**

**"What reasons?" Edward asked, tilting his head. **

**Imogen took a pause to lick at her snow cone, but Edward could see the frustration on her face. **

**"Well…taking care of VertiCuts eats up a lot of my time up. I've got a couple of other businesses I manage that I have to take care of, too." **

**"What other businesses do you manage?" Edward asked, sitting down at the table across from Imogen. **

**"Aside from VertiCuts? There's an old art-house theater, last of its kind in the entire city. There's also an art gallery with a café in it. VertiCuts makes more money than any of those combined, so I spend most of my time there. If it were up to me, I'd love to spend all day in the gallery or the theater, people watching and sipping coconut water," she said. **

**"You like art," Edward said. **

**Imogen nodded.**

**"Ever since I was activated. I just wish I could do it myself," she said quietly, her smile fading slightly. **

**"You…you can't?"**

**"Not like humans can," she said, a note of longing on her voice. "I can do fractal art, and I can copy a hairstyle from a picture down to the T, but I can't create anything original or unique. I can't capture the beauty of the random."**

**Imogen paused, licked the rest of her snow cone away, and looked up at Edward.**

**"I really admire that about you," she said.**

**Edward twitched his blades.**

**"You do?" he asked.**

**"Just…the haircuts you do, the way you can just…turn a person into a canvas spontaneously, create something unique to them on the spot. It's incredible. I've never seen anything quite like it," Imogen whispered. **

**Edward didn't know what to say. Knowing that Imogen admired him, it made him feel strange. He felt happy that she thought so highly of his creations, but sad that she couldn't create of her own. There was a small silence between them where they both stared at each other. **

**"Edward," Imogen finally said. "Can…can I ask you something kinda personal? There's…something I've been wondering about ever since we were alone in the shop last week. "**

**"What is it?" He asked.**

**Imogen looked down and sighed.**

**"You know how robots like me, we can sense heartbeats?" she asked, her voice sounding uncharacteristically nervous. **

**Edward nodded. **

**"Why does your heart stop beating whenever the two of us are alone?" Imogen asked.**

* * *

Surprise new chapter with another surprise cliffhanger! :D

This came really out of the blue for me, but I'm not gonna question it. One of my calmer chapters probably since the history of the fanfic, sorry about the lack of action! But stuff is gonna get pretty crazy after this, so that should make up for it. As always, if there are any mistakes I will correct later, best to put this up now before I change my mind. Hope you guys enjoy!

Write on!


	18. Little Cuts

Author's Note: You may want to refresh on chapters 10, 13, and 15.

Disclaimer: I do not own Edward and his story, But all dem original characters belong to me.

* * *

**VertiCut: Chapter XVIII**

_**South Gate Memorial Park **_

**Edward stood up quickly, his chair falling down behind him. Imogen gasped.**

"**I…I'm sorry, Edward…I just thought …" **

**Edward twitched his blades uncertainly, unsure of what to do. What did this mean? That his heart could shut down but he somehow could stay alive? Imogen pulled herself out of her chair, and Edward drew back, realizing what else this meant. **

**Imogen knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that his story was a lie. She knew he wasn't in the industrial abductions. And she knew he wasn't human. **

**Edward ran. **

"**Edward, wait!" Imogen yelled.**

**He didn't look behind him as he rushed through the garden. He needed to keep running. He needed to do what he should have done the moment Imogen told him about the movie Gina made. **

**He needed to tell Urchin.**

**At the edge of the park, the shuttle was already waiting at the stop, and Edward boarded it quickly. The ride took all of two minutes to get back to the South Gate Shopping Center, and in that time Edward thought of all the things that could possibly go wrong if people found what he was. He only momentarily thought of what could happen to him, but his mind quickly went to the others. He thought of what would happen to Urchin, Addy, Tin-Tin, to everyone who helped him. What if they all went to prison?**

_**What if something even worse happened to them?**_

**Edward rushed out at the first stop. Urchin. He had to find her. He had to tell her. When she walked him to work that morning she told him she was going to go to Café Iced Wire, but that was hours ago. Still, it was the only lead he had. **

**Edward tucked in his blades and made his way through the crowds. Many people recognized him and smiled or called out to him, and he kept his head down. **

"**Edward!"**

**He felt a hand wrap around his arm and he snapped around, slicing a small cut across his face. Tin-Tin and Lintu stood behind him, their arms filled with shopping bags.**

"**Whoa, sorry Edward, didn't mean to scare ya!" Tin said. "What are you doing 'round here? Shouldn't you be at work?"**

**Edward shook his head quickly.**

"**Do you know where Urchin is?" he asked.**

"**Sorry, no. We just went by Iced Wire to see if she was in there, but her and Beck checked out of their Chill pod about half an hour ago."**

**Edward twitched his blades nervously, glancing between Lintu and Tin-Tin.**

"**I need to talk to her." He said urgently. **

**Tin-Tin tilted her head curiously, but Lintu didn't notice Edward's desperation. She smiled and pulled out a small purple phone from her purse.**

"**This is exactly why I've been telling Beck to get a phone. I even offered to help him out with the plan; he didn't need to get anything fancy like a Phone byte, just something so I could get into contact with him! Let me call Beck's landline and see if they went back to the apartment…"**

**Edward shuffled uncomfortably. **

"**Are you okay?" Tin-Tin asked. **

**He shook his head and glanced back as Lintu furrowed her brows. **

"**Hmmm, the voicemail is switched to the remote app configuration, he must have called someone from the Chill Pod and forgot to switch it back. The code is 2113, right? I can be sneaky and listen to his last recorded call." Lintu said with a snicker. **

**Tin nodded and Lintu pressed in the numbers. As she listened to the recorded call, her smile faded. She looked over at Tin-Tin and Edward nervously.**

"**What's wrong?" Tin-Tin asked.**

"**I…Beck was talking to someone from the Café Iced Wire on the west side…they said they saw someone he was looking for…" **

"**Saw someone?" Edward asked. **

"**The girl he was describing…it sounded like Darla." **

"**Darla? Why would Beck ask them to look for her over there? Why would she even be there?" Tin asked. **

**There was a short silence as the three of them pondered this, when suddenly Lintu's face went pale.**

"…**Aren't there a lot of old abandoned buildings in that area? Big ones?" she asked with a trembling voice. **

**Edward furrowed his brows before he realized what Lintu was implying. Edward remembered what Urchin had said about Darla, and how it was quite clear she was dealing Battle Bots. He remembered what she said about how they hid out in abandoned buildings. **

"**Wait…" Tin-Tin said. "You…you don't think Darla was…lookin' for runaway Battle-bots? Or…or that's where she,"—**

"**We need to get to the Hover Trains, now," Lintu said quickly, turning and walking quickly in the direction of the Hover Dock station. Edward and Tin-Tin quickly followed after her. **

"…**Lintu? What's going to happen?" Edward asked quietly. **

"**Darla's up to no good, and Beck and Urchin are trying to catch her in the act. We gotta stop them before they both do something they're gonna regret." Lintu said.**

_**-Snip-**_

After a very long and next to useless recount of what the cashier saw on his smoke break, Beck and I step out of Café Iced Wire, and we turn down the block.

"You paid them a lot for very little information," I say.

"That wasn't a lot," he shrugs. "And they gave us plenty of information. They said she went down this way. So we'll just walk these streets until we find her."

"What are we gonna do?" I ask. "Kick down doors?"

Beck reaches into his pocket and pulls out a piece of folded paper. He unfurls it and holds it up. That picture of the Battle-Bot fight, of Darla, and the corner of the Café Iced Wire sign in the corner. He taps on the corner with the sign and looks at me and I instantly realize where he's going with this.

We need to find the right angle.

Together, we twist and turn around the streets, glancing down between the picture and up at sign, still tall and visible above all the dilapidated buildings. The streets are completely abandoned in this area, so there's no need to try and be subtle. We break into a run as we get closer to the angle in the picture, surveying the landscape, looking for any building big enough to house an arena fight.

"Hey Urchin," Beck calls.

"Yeah?"

"Why aren't you more pissed?" he calls back.

"What do you mean?"

"It's like I said before. Robots are your thing. She betrayed your dad. His work. Your robot. You think Battle-Bot dealers are the scum of the earth and you never stop reminding me and Tin about that, but you haven't said anything about Darla. Why does it feel more like you're here to help me than to get her?" He asks.

I was hoping he wouldn't pick up on that. I hate that he knows me so well. I hate that he's right.

"I don't know. I guess…I know how much robotics meant to her. I saw how much she admired my dad's work. How close she was with Asimov. Passion like that just doesn't go away—she cared. She still cares. For her to do something like this...she must have been really desperate. I guess I just feel sorry for her," I say.

I glance back at Beck, who quickly looks away.

"…Y-yeah. Maybe," he says, the slightest tremble on his voice. "But she's still a shit bag for doing it."

He glances back at the sign again, and I slow my pace, looking closer at the street. As we pass a warehouse, some movement catches my eye down the alley. I grab Beck's arm and pull him to a stop.

And there she is.

"Found her," I motion to Beck.

Her platinum blonde hair is tied up into a messy bun, and she's wearing a grubby pair of cargos and a wife beater. No doubt rags she intended to get bloody. She doesn't notice us approach—she's got wireless ear buds in and she's too preoccupied with pulling the multiple piercings out of her face. As she sticks them in her pockets, she pulls out a keycard and slides it through the door to the warehouse. I can see that pale, angry scar that twists around her arm as she brings the key card back down.

And suddenly, I feel very sick.

We walk up behind her, and Beck taps her on the back. She turns around and his hands shoot out. He yanks the ear buds out of her ears and throws them on the ground. Darla yelps a bit before jumping back, her eyes wide.

"Beck!" She yelps, her face going red. "Wha…what are you doing here?!"

"What are YOU doing here!?" Beck hisses, his robotic voice echoing down the empty alley.

"I was just,"—

"Shut up," Beck says. "You think I don't know what you're about? I saw your fucking fight. How's the money? Was it worth it?"

"You…you watch Battle Bot fights?" she asks, her voice shaking.

"I saw _one._ On accident. And you were right there. So which Bot was yours, the raptor one or the one with the knife wings?!" Beck yells.

"Beck…please, it's… it's not…."

"Is this why you were too busy to visit me when I was in the Hospital? When I was recovering?! " he yells. "And the one time you visit me it's for ten minutes to take a copy of my keycard so you can squat in my apartment?!"

I watch as Beck screams at his sister, and I watch as she shrivels in response. I think back to all the times Tin-Tin, me, and even Lintu visited Beck in the hospital. How we all lived together in that apartment taking care of him for the short time we did. How we fed him or bathed him when he was in too much pain to move. Even his parents, who hadn't talked to him since they left New Suburbia called every few days for updates.

But Darla was never there. And now we both know what she was preoccupied with.

I know what this is really about now, and I can hardly blame him for not telling me.

_**-Snip-**_

**Edward, Tin-Tin, and Lintu stalked down the streets, searching for any signs of life. **

"**Where could they be?" Lintu asked, "The guys at Iced Wire said they went down here, but there's so many streets!" **

"**Should we split up?" Tin-Tin asked.**

"**What if we can't find each other afterwards?" **

**As the two of them talked, Edward became aware of another sound, something robotic and echoing. Following the noise, he walked across the block and looked down the alleyway. **

**It was Beck. He was screaming at Darla, his face red and his words sharp and harsh. Urchin was there too, completely still, just staring at them. **

**Something was very wrong.**

**Edward wanted to call out to Urchin, or even to Tin-Tin and Lintu, but something about the yelling froze him. Maybe he was afraid of alerting them to his intrusion. Maybe it was something else. As he weighed his options, he noticed something else.**

**The door to the warehouse slowly opened, and a strange figure limped out.**

_**-Snip-**_

Between Beck's screams, I hear another sound. I glance over at the door to the warehouse, and double back.

"Beck!" I call over. He stops yelling and glances over, and instantly jumps away.

A Battle-Bot.

Her arms look like they've been elongated, and they hang limply down to her knees. She's wearing what looks like a medical gown, stained in red and yellow. Her skin is a patchwork of different tones and textures, held together with stitches and staples and bandages. She limps forward and lifts her hands; her fingertips spliced open to reveal giant clusters of long, gleaming nails.

"Humans…" She whispers, glancing over us.

"Uh, Ragdoll, who let you out of your pen?" Darla asks gently.

Beck and I glance back at her in disbelief, but in the next moment, I hear the footsteps stop. The Battle Bot is still, staring at Darla. She lifts a shaking hand up to point at Darla, her voice trembling, almost in fear.

"...Hu…humannn," she whines. Her eyes are an unnaturally light blue, and her head is bald aside from a few wisps of string like hair. Small slivers of silver are visible between cracks and scars on her scalp.

"Darla, you're a sick fuck." Beck says, gagging at the sight.

"You guys…you really need to get out of here," Darla says as she walks over to the Battle Bot and puts her hands over her shoulders, trying to usher her back into the warehouse. "I swear it's not as bad as it looks. If you want to…I don't know, meet later, I can explain every,"—

She's cut short, and lurches back, gagging. I look down in confusion.

The Battle Bot has sunk her nail filled fingers into Darla's stomach.

Suddenly, it's as if everything's standing still. The robot is standing in front of Darla, her fingers digging into her guts. I open my mouth, but only a whimper escapes. This…this can't really be happening. This can't be real.

Robots can't do this.

They can't hurt people on purpose.

The Battle Bot twists her hand, and Darla screams. Time unfreezes.

"DARLA?!" Beck screams.

"Humannnn," The Battle Bot hisses.

She yanks her hand out fast, sending a torrent of blood spraying out. Darla sinks to her knees, her shirt stained red, several nails still stuck in her belly.

Beck runs forward to pull the Bot away. Without turning away from Darla, she swings her elbow out at full force, catching Beck in the neck and knocking him off his feet. He hits the ground in a series of hysterical, metallic coughs.

"Urchin," he gags. "Help her! Help Darla!"

I quickly reach into my pocket for my switchblade.

_My switchblade. I don't have my switchblade. _

I run forward with my hands out, thinking maybe I can tackle the Battle Bot to the ground. She turns around and catches my wrist, lifting me up and holding me out of reach with remarkable strength, the nails on her hands scraping at my skin. She looks me in the eyes before glancing back down at Darla.

"Humannnnn…"

She lifts her foot up, and I notice that her toes are spliced into the same nail clusters as her fingers. I reach forward, trying to grab at her neck, but she just hoists me higher into the air. Darla looks up at her with a trembling head and watering eyes, her mascara running down her face and the ground in front of her splattered red.

"P…please…" Darla whispers.

With a chilling hiss, the Battlebot slams her foot into Darla's face.

Beck screams and scrambles over to Darla as she hits the ground, her face a bloody, torn mess. His cries are so sharp it makes my ears ring. The Battle Bot stares down at the two of them, her eyes wide, almost in confusion. She shifts on her heels, still holding me off the ground with one hand. She wraps her other hand around Becks neck.

"BECK!" I scream, kicking frantically, trying to get out of her grasp.

"Human…" She whispers, pulling Beck off the ground.

He grabs his neck as he erupts into another fit of painful coughs. I reach my other hand up, trying to wrench my wrist out of her grasp.

"Let go, let go, LET GO!" I scream.

She captures my other wrist in the same hand. Now holding me by my arms and Beck by his neck, she looks between us before glancing down at the bloody, unmoving mess that is Darla. I try kicking forward, shaking, spitting at her, swearing at her, anything. Beck's coughs are punctuated by horrible, shrill, robotic screams. She ignores both of us and raises her foot again, right over Darla's head.

"Huma,"—

Her hiss is cut short into a whimper, and her foot suddenly drops, inches away from Darla's bloody face. The Bot's pupils dilate and she stumbles backward. I glance down at her, and then I see the three red metal blades protruding right through her chest. Her arms sway and she drops Beck and me. She stands still for a moment before the blades retract out of her and she slides to the ground.

Edward.

He stands over her, breathing heavy, his bladed fingers stained in blood. He glances down at me, his face contorted in confusion. All I can do is grip my wrists and whimper.

"DARLA?! WHAT HAPPENED?! DARLA!"

Lintu runs up behind Edward and collapses into the ground by Darla. Beck drags himself over, one hand clutched over his neck. Tin-Tin comes running up next to them, her face paler than I've ever seen it before.

"H…how did it do that, Urchin?" Tin whispers hoarsely, almost as if she's in shock. "I…I thought robots couldn't hurt nobody…I…"

She trails off as Lintu turns around and thrusts her cell into her hands, screaming hysterically for her to call 911. Tin quickly punches in the numbers, speaking with a shivering voice into the receiver. It doesn't take long for her voice to be drowned out by Lintu's wails, and as I glance over at them, I see that even Beck is quietly sobbing.

I sit up, shaking hard. I glance over at the Battle Bot, her body is twitching and convulsing. Edward must have severed some important wiring. She looks over at me, her eyes opening and closing involuntarily. She opens her mouth, but nothing comes out but blood and puss. I feel sick. I feel like horrible. I quickly turn around and stare at the ground, trying to catch my breath.

Suddenly, a shadow looms over me. Edward. He lowers down gently onto his knees in front of me, staring at the blood on his blades. He's shaking.

"Edward..." I whisper.

He glances over at me, his eyes plastered with fear. He glances back at the robot, staring at in in horror. I reach my hand out to rest on his bloody blades. Edward jumps a little before looking down at my hand.

"…You got cut," he whispers.

I glance down too, at the shallow cuts that circle my wrist from the Bot's nails. The sting feels so far away. So insignificant. I look up Edward, and catch his eyes.

"I'll be okay. We all will be. Thanks to you." I whisper.

* * *

Two chapters within only a month of each other, look at me go! I've been really feeling this story lately. This was a very pivotal chapter for me, and all of this was planned years ago, and it feels good to finally write it down, for all this planning to start to come together. Thanks for sharing the ride with me, readers.

As always, corrections will come when I have time. If I proofread one more time I'm gonna fall asleep. Or scream. I hope you all enjoyed it! Please let me know what you think if you have the time, I love constructive feedback! Until next time.

Write on!


End file.
